PROPER MONITORING CAN PROVIDE EARLY DAMAGE DETECTION AND INTERVENTION FOR DAMS

When disaster strikes, we are all at risk! The unprepared ones will get hit the hardest. Today, at least 1,680 dams across the U.S. rated in poor or unsatisfactory conditions. These dams pose potential risks according to the Associated Press article. Without urgent action, aging dams (dams in the U.S. are on average over 50 years old) may not be able to adequately handle the intense rainfall and floods of a changing climate or imminent earthquakes. Because the housing developments are often located nearby these dams, they may fail to protect people.

The significance of structural health monitoring (SHM) for dam safety is widely acknowledged. There are a number of unfortunate examples of failed dams where early signs of deficiencies might have been monitored and detected if a proper SHM system had been in place. A robust SHM system can provide timely information that is needed for an understanding of the performance of a dam. The SHM system, including instrumentation and data analytics, can provide dam owners with the knowledge that a dam is performing as expected, and the ability to detect a change in its integrity. This knowledge and ability are critical for the dam owners because they are directly responsible for the consequences of failure. Because of these reasons, a robust safety monitoring system should be a fundamental part of every dam owners risk management progra

QuakeLogic provides the most comprehensive structural health monitoring solution for dams. We are the only company with a cloud-based, AI-powered technology platform performing autonomous structural assessments using sensor data. After an earthquake occurs, our platform sends rapid notifications to our users. These notifications include the level of shaking intensity and whether the structural integrity of the dam is compromised. This system not only monitors earthquakes but also utilizes data from various sensors such as potentiometers, strain gauges, thermocouples, weather stations, piezometers and seepage (weirs & flumes).

QuakeLogic’s intelligent structural health monitoring platform generates meaningful and easy-to-understand information. This timely and critical information helps the dam owners to give informed decisions and plan their responses appropriately.

We provide “peace of mind” to dam owners. To learn about our risk management solutions, please contact us at info@quakelogic.net

COMPARING EXPECTED EARTHQUAKE SHAKING IN ISTANBUL WITH THE 1999 M7.6 IZMIT EARTHQUAKE

In 1999, the magnitude 7.6 quake devastated part of northwest Turkey, not far from Istanbul [~70 km (43 mi) away from the earthquake’s epicenter]. The 37 seconds shaking killed about 17,000 people and left 250,000 homeless. This unfortunate event was a wake-up call for the nation. Twenty years later, northwest Turkey is still under the threat of a major quake. Prof. Polat Gulkan and I studied six plausible earthquake scenarios that may impact Istanbul directly due to the rupturing of Marmara Sea submarine faults. We compared the ground shaking from these scenarios with the actual magnitude 7.6 Izmit event.

Our most frightening finding is that the West of the Istanbul Metropolitan area is expected to be shaken more than three times as it did during the Izmit earthquake. This part of the metropolitan including Atakoy, Bakirkoy and Avcilar districts experienced significant damage mainly due to the strong amplification of ground shaking from underlying soft sediments during the 1999 event.

The elevated earthquake risk for the Istanbul Metropolitan is not different than other big U.S. cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle.

Because the earthquake’s impact is so sudden, our response should be as quick as possible too. Today, technology reached a tipping point that revolutionary AI, advanced sensor technology and cloud-computing allow us to respond to earthquake disasters rapidly. By instrumenting buildings, bridges, dams and other infrastructure with sensors, and by using real-time data analytics, we can lessen much of the impact and suffer from earthquakes.

To learn about our AI-powered earthquake risk management solutions, please contact us at info@quakelogic.net

EVACUATE OR NOT—A DILEMMA OF HOSPITALS AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE AND HOW CAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HELP?

  • 15 Jan 2024
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After a strong shaking, hospitals may face pressing challenges including whether to utilize or evacuate structures, restore interrupted operations and repair damaged facilities or equipment. Accurate information is immediately needed to make rapid and informed decisions to make staff, patients and their structure safer. 

In the aftermath of an earthquake, one of the most challenging decisions for hospitals to make is whether to evacuate patients and staff or stay in operation and admit injured people. This decision-making process is of paramount importance because damaged structures may endanger the lives of patients and staff, and liabilities may occur due to the wrong decision to utilize the hospital. Conversely, unnecessary evacuation due to the uninformed decision may create significant stress by putting patients and staff at risk. The loss of revenue arises by stopping or interrupting medical operations and services. 

Post-earthquake inspection of hospital buildings is also a time-consuming process due to the architectural and structural complexity of hospital buildings. 

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a hot and frontier research direction in numerous fields in science and engineering. The development of machine learning algorithms and big data has brought revolutionary changes in our lives. QuakeLogic is the only company providing cloud-based AI-powered disaster risk management solutions to prevent and reduce human and economic losses risen during and after earthquakes

Our cutting-edge technology platform performs real-time autonomous structural assessments using sensor data and sends rapid notifications after an event with the level of shaking intensity and whether structural integrity is compromised. For instance, for hospitals, we provide meaningful and easy-to-understand information immediately after an earthquake. This timely and critical information helps the hospital’s management to plan their role in making the staff, patients and their structure safer. This information also expedites post-earthquake inspections for the rapid recovery of medical operations and services.

Our mission is to ensure peace of mind for people in health care who dedicated to saving lives after disasters.