Earthworm (EW) has been used extensively for seismic surveillance in observatories around the world (Johnson et al. 1995). Its modularity and simplicity provide outstanding robustness and flexibility, making it one of the preferred software tools for automated processing of seismic data.
However, some of the core EW modules for critical analysis tasks, such as hypocenter location, have not been seriously updated for some time. As such, an important task is to improve on existing modules or introduce new functionalities. Given the extensive use of EW, the impact of such functionalities may be very significant.
In the particular case of this proposal, it becomes important to highlight the significance of instrumental intensity maps for civil protection operations. These maps allow rapid estimates on the earthquake induced damage as well as the establishment of priority interventions. Supported with advanced hypocenter location techniques, this functionality would increase significantly the usefulness of EW in local seismic networks.
The main priorities of this project are as follows:
1. To develop a light-weight EW module for the estimation of ground motion and instrumental intensity using the method by Convertito et al. (2010). The new module must comply the following pre-requisites:
- Use information from existing modules in a progressive manner with a best-effort approach
- Simple configuration - Accessible to non-experts
2. To develop a manager for the RTLoc early-warning earthquake location program or alternatively, to develop a full location program using the RTLoc method from Satriano et al. (2008).
Reaching these objectives will improve the early warning functionality in EW and include, for the first time, simplified ground motion and instrumental intensity estimates.
Note that these functionalities are not novel. What this project intends is to generalize their usage, at least in a simplified manner. For higher accuracy, users should refer to the standard tools for this purpose, in particular, Shakemap (Wald et al, 2006).