Design and Analysis of Disaster Warning and Evacuation Systems Using the Network Modelling Approach

Canada’s West coast is prone to tsunamis induced from local megathrust earthquakes that can be generated from the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ). The main objective of this research is to study, analyze and simulate the current detection, notification and response systems for an earthquake and resulting tsunami and develop a comprehensive solution using the network modelling approach to mitigate the impact of future disasters. We will use the results and inferences derived from a tornado mitigation analysis to conduct this research. An activity network is developed to represent the information flow from tsunami detection point to the warning communication point. It is simulated using the Simphony software to obtain the overall time consumption. The network is further refined to analyze the system in the presence of some branch failures. A more detailed modelling work is conducted using the emergency and disaster management modelling expertise and simulation software. The outcome results are used to validate the simulation exercise and to develop a more informative way of using the network modelling approach for different disasters.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. S.C. Wirasinghe

Student:

Samanthi Durage

Partner:

C4i Consultants Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Calgary