What does the Intensity say to us?
The intensity describes the strength of an earthquake based on the degree
of the destruction - buildings and landscape - and the perception of observer.
The intensity of an earthquake is location-dependent and is defined by the
Magnitude, the distance and depth to the seismic center (hypocenter), the
geology and substrata. In the EMS 98 the effects of varied strong earthquakes
are classed between
I – earthquake not perceptible- and XII – entire destruction.
Depending of the adjusted threshold - sensitivity of the sensor - secty lifePatron® generates an alert if the intensity to be expected reaches a measure with which the first low damages can occur. These damages correspond on the EMS 98 scale to a value > "VI". The threshold is manually adjustable in steps in the device.
Beside the classification of the earthquake perception after the EMS 98-Scale there are futher classifications like the JMA- (Japan Meteorological Agency) with the classes I-VII and the Modified Mercalli Scale (MM) also with the classes I-XII.
For example: within the scope of the function test at the GFZ Potsdam secty lifePatron® released an alarm with the arrival of the very first seismic signals of the P wave of the Düzce (Turkey) earthquake from Nov 12, 1999, Magnitude 7.1.
