Probabilistic earthquake early warning times in Fujian Province

Earthquake early warning (EEW) systems are a new and effective way to mitigate the damage associated with earthquakes. A prototype EEW system is currently being constructed in the Fujian Province, a region along the Southeast coast of China. It is anticipated that the system will be completed in time to be tested at the end of this year (2013). In order to evaluate how much advanced warning the EEW system will be able to provide different cities in Fujian, we established an EEW information release scheme based on the seismic monitoring stations distributed in the region. Based on this scheme, we selected 71 historical earthquakes. We then obtained the delineation of the region's potential seismic source data in order to estimate the highest potential seismic intensities for each city as well as the EEW system warning times. For most of the Fujian Province, EEW alarms would sound several seconds prior to the arrival of the destructive wave. This window of time gives city inhabitants the opportunity to take protective measures before the full intensity of the earthquake strikes.