Estimation of Earthquake Early Warning Parameters for Eastern Sicily

Earthquake early warning systems (EEWSs) are becoming a suitable
instrument for seismic risk management in real time. In fact, they are implemented
or are undergoing testing in many countries around the world because EEWSs represent
an effective approach to mitigating seismic risk on a short timescale. EEWSs are based
on the use of relationships between some parameters measured on the initial portion of
seismic signal after the onsets. Here, we address the first approach to the implementation
of EEWS in eastern Sicily, a region that has been hit by several destructive earthquakes.
We estimated the peak displacement amplitude of the first portion of P and S waves Pd,
the ground-motion period parameter τc, and the peak ground velocity (PGV) from earthquakes
with ML ≥2:8 recorded by the broadband stations operated by the Istituto Nazionale
di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. We found that the Pd is correlated with the size of
the earthquake and may be used to compute the magnitude for an EEWS in this area.We
also derived the relationships between τc and ML, and between Pd and PGV, which can
be used to provide on-site warning in the area around a given station and to evaluate the
potential damaging effects. These relationships may be deemed a useful guide for future
implementation of the EEWS in the region.

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