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Earthquake Early Warning (Japan)

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Earthquake Early Warning in Japan

The Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) (緊急地震速報, Kinkyū Jishin Sokuhō) is a warning issued just after an earthquake in Japan is detected.[1] The warnings are issued mainly by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), and they issue tips on how to react to the warnings.[2][3]

Introduction

The JMA has two Earthquake Early Warning schemes; one is for advanced users, another for the general public.[4]

If strong tremors are expected, an Earthquake Early Warning for the general public is provided via TV and radio broadcasts.[4] The timing of a warning depends on conditions when a warning can be issued and received. After receiving a warning, a person may have a few seconds at longest to take action, but if the epicenter is very close there may be cases in which strong tremors come ahead of any warning.[5]

The Earthquake Early Warning is set up to enable people to mitigate damage from an earthquake: people may protect themselves at home, at the office, and near cliffs. Railway workers may use this warning to slow down trains, and factory workers may use it to stop assembly lines prior to an earthquake.[1]

Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the early warning system, along with Japan's tsunami warning system, was at first considered effective by Indian scientist Dr. Shailesh Nayak, who helped develop India's warning system,[6] though fatality numbers later proved to be thousands higher.

Format of EEW broadcasts

NHK

An example of an EEW shown on NHK.

On NHK television channels, an alert consists of a box superimposed on the picture while two sets of chimes sound, after which a voice announces in Japanese: "This is an Earthquake Early Warning. Please be careful of strong shaking." The voice is provided by NHK announcer Masao Sueda (末田 正雄, Sueda Masao).[citation needed] The alert also informs viewers whether or not there is a risk of a landslide or tsunami caused by the quake in the affected area.

Mobile phone networks

Japan's three major mobile phone carriers, NTT docomo, au (KDDI and Okinawa Cellular) and SoftBank Mobile, have developed the simultaneous broadcast systems to receive EEW and provided phones with this service since 2007.[7][8][9]

It is mandatory for 3G cellular phones that were put on the market after 2007 to receive this service, though overseas manufacturers (Nokia, Apple, HTC, LG, Samsung, etc.) are not supported.

NTT docomo

EEW is enabled by default on all models of the FOMA 905i series (FOMA 905iシリーズ) released on November 26, 2007, some FOMA High-Speed models of the FOMA 705i series (FOMA 705iシリーズ) released in February 2008 and all the newer models. NTT docomo started the free Area Mail (ja:エリアメール) EEW service on December 10.[10][11]

au

EEW is enabled on all models newer than 2008 Spring models released on January 9, 2008, including ja:W61CA, ja:W61H, ja:W61K, ja:W61SA, ja:W61SH, ja:W62SA and a few smartphone models, such as ja:IS02 (TSI01). KDDI and Okinawa Cellular started EEW broadcast via au's Short Message Service called C-mail (ja:Cメール) for free on March 25, 2008.[12]

SoftBank Mobile

On May 30, 2007, SoftBank announced development of a EEW broadcast system similar to those of NTT docomo and au.[13] Deployment of this system was originally planned in fiscal 2008 but postponed two years. On August 25, 2010, EEW service started in all areas of the Kansai region, Tokai region, Tohoku region (seven prefectures), Chugoku region, and Shikoku region as well as limited areas of the Kanto region. The EEW broadcast network covers the whole country since December 7, 2010. As of March 2011, ja:SoftBank 831N is the only model that supports EEW, although more models are expected to support EEW after summer 2010.

Other

RC Solution Co. developed an iPhone application named "Yurekuru Call for iPhone" to receive EEW, which is distributed on App Store for free. Notification of an EEW might be delayed or blocked if communication lines are congested.[14][15]

Radio receivers

The folloiwng hardware and software can detect and transmit EEW for the general public on the radio, but these can only recognize the fact that a warning has been issued and provide no details.

These receivers utilize EEW broadcast from radio stations and are free of specific information fees or connection fees. EEW radio waves can be received even in areas where no broadband Internet access is available. The quality of service, rapidity, and service area may vary from station to station.

Cable television

A rental EEW receiver of JCN Funabashi-Narashino

Japanese cable TV stations offer affordable EEW services. For example, Japan Cablenet (ja:ジャパンケーブルネット) (JCN) rents a receiver that receives EEW for advanced users and notifies the user of the estimated Shindo scale and the remaining time (0 to 5 seconds).[19][20] Some cable TV stations also broadcast EEW on community radio FM and provide equipment to prefectural and municipal facilities for free

The Internet

Weathernews Inc. (ja:ウェザーニューズ), a weather information company, started a paid service to broadcast EEW for advanced users, The Last 10-Second, targeted at individuals and businesses on October 15, 2007.[21][22][23] This service requires a computer running Windows 2000 or later with an always-on connection to the Internet and offers an affordable alternative to a costly communication terminal used exclusively for EEW. The EEW client application installed on the computer can be configured to receive information on all earthquakes with a JMA magnitude of 3.5 or higher or with a seismic intensity of 3 or higher.

On July 7, 2008, ANET Co., Ltd. (ja:ANET, [アネット] Error: {{nihongo}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help)), a disaster prevention technology company of the Railway Technical Research Institute Group, released a client application, EQMessenger, to receive ANET Alert, which ciphers and broadcasts EEW information on the epicenter, the estimated seismic intensity at the user's location, and the remaining time before the arrival of the S-wave.[24] When the estimated seismic intensity exceeds the preset level, EQMessenger can sound a warning and display the epicenter, the intensity estimation point, and the arrival of the tremor on a pop-up map.

See also

References

Template:Translation/Ref

  1. ^ a b "What is the Earthquake Early Warning (or "緊急地震速報 (Kinkyu Jishin Sokuho)" in Japanese)?". Japan Meteorological Agency. 30 August 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2008. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Earthquake Early Warning Starting 1 October 2007" (PDF). Japan Meteorological Agency. 30 August 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
  3. ^ "How to respond to earthquake early warnings" (in Japanese). NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  4. ^ a b "緊急地震速報について｜緊急地震速報の内容" (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 29 June 2008. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "緊急地震速報とは" (in Japanese). Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 29 June 2008. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Amitabh Sinha (12 March 2011). "Early warning system saved Japan worst of tsunami wrath". Indian Express.
  7. ^ 緊急地震速報に対応した一斉同報配信基盤を開発(NTT docomo press release May 30, 2007)
  8. ^ 緊急地震速報に対応した一斉同報配信基盤を開発(KDDI news release May 30, 2007 )
  9. ^ 「緊急地震速報」について(SoftBank Mobile press release May 30, 2007)
  10. ^ CEATEC ドコモの905i、緊急地震速報を無償で受信可能に（Nikkei ITPro October 2, 2007）
  11. ^ 緊急速報「エリアメール」
  12. ^ 緊急地震速報の提供開始について KDDI Corporation
  13. ^ 「緊急地震速報」について SoftBank
  14. ^ ゆれくるコール”for iPhone サポートサイト RC Solution Co.
  15. ^ あと何秒で地震が来るか分かるiPhoneアプリに惚れた！ Weekly ASCII PLUS, Novemver 30, 2010
  16. ^ http://www.irisohyama.co.jp/news/2009/0820.html Iris Ohyama
  17. ^ http://www.irisohyama.co.jp/news/2010/0310.html Iris Ohyama
  18. ^ http://www.uniden.jp/products/ewr/ewr200.html Uniden
  19. ^ 事例報告：地震の揺れが到達する前に緊急地震速報をお知らせしました！ Kabushiki-gaisha JCN Funabashi-Narashino
  20. ^ 事例報告：地震の揺れが到達する前に緊急地震速報をお知らせしました！ Kabushiki-gaisha Kamakura Cable Communications
  21. ^ 個人向け緊急地震速報サービス『The Last 10-Second』10月15日から開始 （Weathernews Inc. press release September 27, 2007）
  22. ^ 個人向け緊急地震速報サービス『The Last 10-Second』 Weathernews Inc.
  23. ^ 事業者向け緊急地震速報サービス『The Last 10-Second』 Weathernews Inc.
  24. ^ 株式会社ANETが緊急地震速報受信ソフト EQMessenger：イーキューメッセンジャー）の発売を開始 ANET Co., Ltd.

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