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Proceedings of the International Conference on
Advances and New Challenges in Earthquake
Engineering Research, Hong Kong Volume
APPLICATION OF EARLY DAMAGED AREA ESTIMATION
SYSTEM USING DMSP/OLS TO RECENT DESTRUCTIVE
EARTHQUAKES
Kouichi HASEGAWA 1 , Mitsuhiro HIGASHIDA 1 , Masayuki KOHIYAMA 2 ,
Norio Maki 1 , Haruo Hayashi 1 , Herbert W.KROEHL 3 ,
Christopher D.ELVIDGE 3 and V. Ruth HOBSON 3
1 Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Research Center (EDM), NIED
2465-1 Mikiyama, Miki, Hyogo, Japan
2 Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center
E/GC 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado USA
ABSTRACT
The authors are developing the Early Damaged Area Estimation System (EDES), which provides the
information as to the estimated impacted areas within the first 24 hours after any significant
earthquake based on nighttime lights observed by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
(DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). The estimation method is based on the detection of
significant reductions or loss of lights in nighttime images following the event, for it can be expected
that city lights will observably decrease after a large earthquake.
The EDES targets Asia-Pacific region, which doesn't have tools to estimate earthquake disaster area,
to support their activities after big earthquakes by providing the useful spatial information. In addition,
humanitarian relief aids by various organizations all over the world should be distributed properly and
fairly to those who need such aids in the impacted area, and it is desirable for international disaster
response and relief communities to identify the exact location of impacted areas as soon as possible as
for their quick mobilization. The EDES will also be able to support these communities with the
information. We expect this system will contribute to global disaster management activities.
1. INTRODUCTION
It is necessary to grasp the spatial distribution of the damaged areas in early time in a large earthquake
disaster in order to allocate limited human and physical resources efficiently. Shortly after a disaster,
interruptions of communication and confusions of information would interfere with precise
assessment of the disaster situation, and relief actions would come to confusion. Therefore, the early
information of damaged area distribution is indispensable for effective disaster responses.