Water supply destruction following an earthquake may cause severe inconvenience to people in the disaster-affected areas, impeding their ability to carry out daily activities. Medical care, sanitation, and firefighting may also be seriously malfunctioned. Water authorities therefore urgently need a seismic risk analysis tool for estimating the likely damage in water systems and the expected loss of functionality in earthquake scenarios. Measures could then be taken to enhance seismic preparedness and emergency response in an appropriate and timely manner.

Twater is a specialized tool for scenario-ba

Twater has been employed in regional planning to enhance the preparedness of water supply systems against seismic hazards. Under an earthquake scenario, Twater can predict the number of breaks and leakages in water pipelines, which areas will suffer water shortages, and the cost and time required to fully restore the water supply. The amount of water required for shelters and firefighting can be estimated as well. For example, Figure 2 depicts a thematic map of the amount of water pipeline damage in each district in the Greater Taipei region under an M6.9-scenario earthquake triggered by the Sanchiao fault. This map was originally prepared, along with many other simulated results, to propose disaster reduction plans for the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior. Twater has also been employed to identify hot spots for liquefaction-induced pipeline damage. A cost-benefit analysis may be carried out accordingly for pipe replacement to reduce earthquake hazards.

Figure 2. The amount of water pipeline damage in the Greater Taipei region under an M6.9-scenario earthquake triggered by the Sanchiao fault.

With the help of Twater, the Early Seismic Loss Estimation (ESLE) service provided by NCREE was extended to all water utilities in Taiwan at the end of 2015. Emergency personnel are notified with damage estimates for water systems within a minute after the ESLE system receives an earthquake alert email from the Central Weather Bureau (CWB), Ministry of Transportation and Communications. After the Meinong earthquake on February 6, 2016, the ESLE system used the li

Table 1. Estimated and actual numbers of damaged sections in water pipelines in Tainan after the Meinong earthquake on February 6, 2016.