Development of an Earthquake Shake Map Routine with Low Cost Accelerometers: Preliminary Results

Vast amounts of high quality strong motion data are indispensable inputs of the analyses in the field of geotechnical and earthquake engineering however, high cost of installation of the strong motion systems constitutes the biggest obstacle for worldwide dissemination. Today, for a high quality system, about 10,000 USD budget per instruments is required. In recent years, MEMS based (micro-electro-mechanical systems) accelerometers have been used in seismological research-oriented studies as well as earthquake engineering oriented projects basically due to precision obtained in downsized instruments. In this study two accomplishments were done. In the first phase; MEMS based instruments available in the Institutes’ inventory were modified so as to be used for real time monitoring. In the second phase a Matlab based shake map routine was developed to calculate various ground motion parameters in per-second basis only after triggered by an event. Hence, synchronized real time data transfer from instruments served to create a rapid response network in an affordable way. Functionality of the software has been investigated through shake table tests. The successful realization of this product also allowed us to set up a test network at Tekirdag Province, the closest city to moderate size earthquake activities in central Marmara Sea.