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Estimated Damage
Information
Decision Support
Information
EQ Info^
Provider**
Shaking Intensity
Distribution
(PGV PGA)
Initial
Response
Figure 1. VERN Emergency Information Structure
VERN consists of four elements to cover four different types of information management: 1)
Earthquake Monitoring System, 2) Early Post Earthquake Damage Estimation Tool, 3) Emergency
Information System, and 4) Decision Tree. Functions of these components are described as follows:
Earthquake Monitoring System:
Monitors earthquake occurrence information released by observing agents such as Japan
Meteorological Agency (JMA), and calculates ground motion distribution. The information includes
epicentral information and shaking intensity recorded at local sensors. The VERN system directly
connected to JMA catch the information within 10-30 minutes and suggests initial response level
associated with severity of earthquake at site.
Early Post Earthquake Damage Assessment Tool: EPEDAT.
Triggered by input from the Earthquake Monitoring System, initiates damage estimation calculation
automatically, and place results into database. This system is known as EPEDAT which is originally
developed for the state of California by EQE.
Emergency Information System:
All information related with status (actual damage), and emergency staffing and operations is entered
through forms, and reports are generated by functions of sections of emergency organization.
Emergency response staffs are able to obtain necessary information as well as to input.