Day 32: Blogging on EEW

I am trying to set-up a blog for our earthquake early warning (EEW) work. I wrote a short article yesterday to get some content in it:

New paper on practical limitations of EEW

A new paper has just been published on Earthquake Spectra. David Wald writes about the practical limitations of earthquake early warning. The paper outlines key points for strategic communication, taking into account EEW limitations and possibilities. Points include depicting expected alert times, setting warning expectations based on context (e.g. subduction zone environments, crustal quakes etc.), educating users on taking appropriate (or inappropriate) action when shaking is felt, communicating EEW is not the only mitigation to earthquake losses, offering broader context of other available earthquake hazard and risk information.

Access the article: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F8755293020911388  

The abstract of the article:

Earthquake early warning (EEW) entails detection of initial earthquake shaking and rapid estimation and notification to users prior to imminent, stronger shaking. EEW (ShakeAlert Phase 1, version 2.0) went operational in California in October 2019 and is coming to the rest of the U.S. West Coast. But what are the technical and social challenges to delivering actionable information on earthquake shaking before it arrives? Although there will be tangible benefits, there are also limitations. Basic seismological principles, alert communication challenges, and potential response actions, as well as substantial lessons learned from the use of EEW in Japan, point to more limited opportunities to warn and protect than perhaps many expect. This is in part because potential warning times vary by region and are influenced by tectonic environment, hypocentral depth, and the fault’s proximity to the alert user. For the U.S. West Coast, particularly for crustal earthquakes, warning times are shorter—and possible mitigation actions are likely to be less effective—than often maintained. Nevertheless, EEW is an additional arrow in the quiver of earthquake information tools available in the service of earthquake risk reduction. What is called for, then, is transparency and balance in the EEW discussion: along with its potential, the acknowledgment of EEW’s inherent and practical limitations is needed. Recognizing these limitations could, in fact, make EEW implementation more successful as part of a holistic earthquake mitigation strategy, where its role among other earthquake information tools is quite natural.

Day Nine: A Normal Day

I guess today is a sign that I am adjusting to the quarantine situation. Today felt really normal. I was able to sit down and work for a few hours (albeit still a bit distracted). But it no longer felt so weird.

I also went out for my daily stroll, I passed by a lookout over the Hutt Road. Saw our dojo from afar (the yellow building in the photo). One of the things I definitely miss is practising aikido. Hopefully, we all can get back on the mat after the lockdown.

Day Six: Saturday DIY Project

Before the national lockdown on Wednesday, 25 March, I had an inkling that it would eventually happen. I prepared for it bit by bit. First, I bought myself a Nintendo Switch Lite as an early present for my thesis defence. I thought a gaming console will provide an alternative form of entertainment. Then I bought some things online so I can re-arrange my room to allow for a small work nook.

I got a shelf to provide more space to put the bits and bobs I had on my desk. My desk is now just reserved for work materials! I spent the afternoon assembling this shelf:

I feel good having accomplished this mini project!

No work today, since it's the weekend!

Day 5: New Normal

Not much interesting today. I guess it's really about adjusting to this new normal. I got to do a lot more work, I felt much more focused in the afternoon and was able to do a few hours of uninterrupted work! For my work, I'm spending most of my time preparing for our community EEW virtual workshop on the 3rd of April. I do have a list of tasks that I need to work on, but taking things one at a time.

Aside from that, I'm just establishing routines such as waking up normally, having breakfast, going for walks, taking breaks from work. Really mundane things, but feeling a lot more comfortable in this new setting.

We had a big downpour early in the morning, and we expect it will be rainy in the next few days. So I took advantage of the sunny break during midday and went out for my daily solitary walk. Here is a standard sight from my walks, a shadowy patch leading to a view of the bay and the city:



Skipped rice tonight, and I made some stir-fried noodles for dinner:

Day Four: Alert Level 4 Lockdown Starts

Today is the official start of the Alert Level 4 Lockdown in New Zealand. It just seems so surreal. I don't think I have fully excepted that this is indeed happening. It just seems too strange to be true. But it is happening!

On the home front, I think we have quickly found our own spaces. I spend most of my work time in my room, Ashleigh in her office, and Jess in their bedroom. We share the common space to have lunch/dinner and have coffee/tea breaks. 

Routine wise, I try to do a short walk outside (but might need to find alternatives for exercise especially for rainy days).  Here is a photo I took during my walk during the late afternoon:

At night we watch some local TV and then watch an episode or two of Ozark together. 

I'm trying my best with work. I was able to send out the minutes of a few meetings we had this week. I also got to send a few emails out. Certainly not the most productive, but keeping on with the work.

Today has been very mundane. Eerily normal despite the non-normality of it all!

Hope my outlook improves in the coming days. 

  

Day Two: Establishing Routines

This is a time of adjustment. Each day brings about new changes in how we live! Last week was so different from this, and two weeks ago, everything seemed almost normal (even though it wasn't)!

I find it challenging to work from home. All throughout my PhD, I always worked from the office. Home was where I relaxed and took time off research. But work and home will now merge as we move towards full lockdown in the next 24~ hours.

I need to establish some routines. But planning for them is easier than implementing them! I intended to go for a walk this morning before starting work at home. But lazy me just decided to sleep in until 30-minutes before the first online teleconference call. Ah well... tomorrow, I will try again.

I did get to walk outside today in the afternoon after work. I did a loop walk that took around 50-minutes. It gave me some space to pray and contemplate. On my uphill climb, I prayed the rosary. It felt nice to be outside. But it also felt surreal. Every person I saw on the street seemed normal. But I know where we are now and where we are headed is definitely not normal.

Although a bit sad and scared, I remain hopeful.

Work was busy, I attended a few online meeting. Tested the use of online conferencing tools. I wrote-up a low-risk ethics application. I jotted down minutes from meetings. Nothing too strenuous. Did not get to do some of the tasks I intended. But definitely felt tired at the end of the day.

Day 2 dinner: Stir-fried vegetables with rice (again... but using different veggies).

Day One: Social Isolation Starts

Today, the New Zealand government has increased Alert Level 3 in response to COVID19 outbreak. The Alert Level will further be increased to Level 4 on Wednesday. This means that everyone needs to stay at home! We can still go out for walks, but it is encouraged to minimise social interaction with those outside your household. So... don't meet up with friends in the park, don't invite your neighbours over for lunch! The good thing is that essential shops (supermarkets and pharmacies) will remain open.

I'm frankly a little bit afraid, but also hopeful that we are doing the right thing. I knew this total lockdown would happen. But, now that it is happening, I feel like things are so surreal! I don't think I have yet quite cognitively and emotionally processed what this means for how I go about my day-to-day.

Despite all of this, my life as a researcher continues. I am currently working on two projects: (1) low-cost community-engaged Earthquake Early Warning systems, and (2) high-impact weather citizen science. Today, I worked on both. Just going to lay down my accomplishments to feel good about myself:

• Sent out new invites for the EEW virtual workshop that is planned for 3rd of April
• Created a run sheet for the workshop
• Worked through with Emily on the agenda items for the workshop
• Coordinated a group call with HIWeather Citizen Science working group

There also seems to be a list of things I need to work on:

• Coordinate with the speakers for the workshop
• Send more invites for the EEW workshop
• Test ZOOM capabilities for the workshop
• Draft email to be sent out to the participants
• Work on the guidance note
• Write up minutes for QuakeCoRE and HIWeather calls

It all still seems quite busy for me. It may be a good thing, to keep busy! But I got to make sure I also take it easy on myself.

Also, I want to share some lighthearted stuff here (might need to create two separate posts in the future).

Day 1dinner: Stir-fry vegetables with rice:

Reviving my Research Blog

I am reviving this blog as part of my PhD journey. :-)

Anyone who is interested in what I am researching is most welcome to comment!

Trying a Documents Link

Blogger seems to have limited capability in terms of uploading files. It seems that it can only upload images and videos. I'm trying to work around this through Skydrive. Here is a link to an old syllabus (.doc file), just checking if it works:

Link

Fingers crossed.