SMART Cables Observing the Oceans and Earth

PurposeThe 2019 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) cites earthquakes as the most damaging natural hazard globally, causing billions of dollars of damage and killing thousands of people. Earthquakes have the potential to drastically impact physical, social and economic landscapes; to reduce this risk, earthquake early warning (EEW) systems have been developed. However, these technical EEW systems do not operate in a vacuum; the inequities in social systems, along with the needs of diverse populations, must be considered when developing these systems and their associated communication campaigns.Design/methodology/approachThis article reviews aspects of social vulnerability as they relate to ShakeAlert, the EEW system for the USA. The authors identified two theories (relationship management theory and mute group theory) to inform self-reflective questions for agencies managing campaigns for EEW systems, which can assist in the development of more inclusive communication practices. Finally, the authors suggest this work contributes to important conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues within early warning systems and earthquake preparedness campaigns in general.FindingsTo increase inclusivity, Macnamara (2012) argues that self-reflective questioning while analyzing perspective, philosophy and approaches for a campaign can help. Specific to EEW campaigns, developers may find self-reflective questions a useful approach to increase inclusion. These questions are guided by two theories and are explored in the paper.Research limitations/implicationsSeveral research limitations exist. First, this work explores two theories to develop a combined theoretical model for self-reflective questions. Further research is required to determine if this approach and the combination of these two theories have adequately informed the development of the reflective questions.Originality/valueThe authors could find little peer-reviewed work examining DEI for EEW systems, and ShakeAlert in particular. While articles on early warning systems exist that explore aspects of this, EEW and ShakeAlert, with its very limited time frames for warnings, creates unique challenges.

Geocoding is a spatial analysis method that uses address information (e.g., street address, intersection, census tract, zip code, etc.) to determine geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude). In recent decades, geocoding has gone beyond its primary use for census and demographic information to novel applications in disaster risk reduction, even to earthquake early warning. Here I demonstrate the usefulness of geocoding techniques to earthquake early warning systems as applied to case studies that relied on survey response data and crowd-sourced video footage. These datasets were initially collected to understand the efficacy of tests conducted on ShakeAlert®, the earthquake early warning system for the West Coast of the United States, and how people behave during earthquakes, respectively. Geocoding these data can improve our overall technical understanding of the system, demonstrate whether individuals take protective actions such as ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold On’, and spotlight community demographics that the system is reaching or unintentionally missing. The combination of these social science datasets with geocoding information deepens our knowledge of these fundamentally human-centered systems, including how to improve the distribution of alerts for people and individuals with access and functional needs. In the future, this work may help verify U.S. Geological Survey ‘Did You Feel It?’ responses and seismic intensity, especially in regions with sparse seismic networks.

While increasing resilience to earthquakes in the global South has become a major research and policy goal, the focus has largely been on rapidly expanding urban areas. Rural areas are often neglected despite the fact that rural residents make up a significant proportion of the population exposed to earthquakes in many low and middle-income countries. Central Asia is a case in point. Drawing on empirical research undertaken in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, this paper explores local perceptions of and responses to earthquake hazard and risk among rural householders. The primary data are derived from a survey of 302 households conducted across six rural communities in South Kazakhstan oblast (now Turkistan oblast), supplemented by 10 focus group discussions with rural residents. The findings show little awareness of earthquakes or concern about the potential occurrence of a high magnitude earthquake in the future. This reflects, at least in part, a lack of direct experience of all but minor earthquakes. As a result, we see little evidence of the presence of a seismic culture. Only a small number of respondents had received guidance on how to prepare for, or respond to, earthquakes, and few householders had taken any action to reduce the risk faced. We reflect on the findings in the context of Kazakhstan’s Soviet past and its transition to a post-Soviet future. We argue that acknowledging this past is essential to understanding local level decision-making and to informing future disaster risk reduction interventions in rural areas.

As urbanization continues, more people and infrastructure are concentrated in areas that are at risk from earthquakes. This can increase the potential damage and loss of life when earthquakes occur. Indonesia is a region that is near the boundary of three major tectonic plates which has a very high frequency of earthquake occurrences. Over the past two decades, a new approach to earthquake disaster risk mitigation has emerged. It is based on the advent of digital seismology and advances in data transmission and automatic processing that make it possible to send warnings before the largest ground motion that called the Earthquake Early Warning System (EEW). On-site EEW is a type of EEW that consists of limited seismic stations located at a specific destination/infrastructure (for early detection systems). On-site EEW estimates ground motion parameters directly from the characteristics of seismograms recorded by the system. An artificial intelligence approach to EEW is necessary to increase the speed and accuracy of information, which increases processing time, especially in areas very close to the epicenter

The International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (IDSSD, 2024–2033) was officially launched by the United Nations in 2024, with the aim of strengthening and demonstrating the central role of science in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This study systematically reviews the development of IDSSD, its governance structure, mechanisms for project solicitation and endorsement, as well as the thematic and regional distribution of endorsed initiatives. On this basis, it assesses China’s current participation and potential opportunities. During the first call for initiatives, IDSSD received 221 proposals from 52 countries, with 109 projects endorsed as of June 2025. The second call (June-July 2025) attracted 244 proposals involving nearly 70 countries. China has played an important role in the early stages of the initiative and possesses strong potential to lead in areas such as digital technology, climate change, ecosystem restoration, ocean observation, disaster risk reduction, and science-education collaboration. In alignment with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, it is recommended to establish a national mechanism for advancing IDSSD, strengthen open science and international cooperation, and promote deep integration among industry, academia, and research to achieve full-chain innovation. By initiating and participating in international scientific programmes and improving science and technology financing and supporting systems, China can continuously enhance the guiding role of science and technology in promoting sustainable economic and social development.

The ocean’s contributions to humanity exceeds the products available from it, by absorbing more than 90% of the heat resulting from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The ocean plays a major role in the global cycles of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and other gases and rebalances the heat differential between poles and the equator, governing the climate to maintain life on our planet. The need to sustainably observe all areas of the ocean—as well as its unlimited potential for renewable ocean energy—are providing inspiration for new technological innovations. However, it is becoming more evident from recent scientific findings that ocean health is more at risk than previously thought, because different pressures add up and contribute to rapid and unpredictable changes in ocean ecosystems. With renewed, revitalized, and changing global scenarios and the United Nations declaring this decade as the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development, countries are moving up the ocean in their national policy agendas. Coastal countries, especially small island developing states, are advocating for socially equitable and environmentally sustainable growth. This will require systematic in-situ ocean data collection to understand today’s ocean and for forecasts, disaster risk reduction and early warning systems for coastal society and infrastructure and for the assessment and management of ocean resources. This chapter discusses in detail the need for and importance of ocean observations linked to the blue economy, using case studies to understand how under-resourced countries are facing the complex challenges of ocean observing.

Fibre-optic sensing technology is transforming seafloor monitoring by enabling dense, continuous measurements across vast distances using existing telecommunication infrastructure. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and optical interferometry [1] have demonstrated remarkable potential for earthquake detection, ocean dynamics monitoring, and hazard early warning. However, for these technologies to be used for these applications, the transfer function between environmental perturbations and measured optical signal changes in submarine cables needs to be known.We present the, to the best of our knowledge, first controlled-environment characterisation of submarine cable responses to active seismic and acoustic sources, comparing DAS and optical interferometry measurements with ground-truth data from 58 geophones, 20 three-component seismometers, and microphones [2]. Our results reveal three key findings:In contrast with proposed theoretical models [3], our interferometric measurements show first-order sensitivity to broadside seismic sources, enabling localisation of arrivals along straight fibre links.We identify a previously unreported fast-wave phenomenon, attributed to seismic energy coupling into the cable's metal armour and propagating at velocities exceeding 3.5 km/s, significantly altering recorded waveforms.We compared measurements between adjacent fibres within the same cable. Results show significant discrepancies between the measured waveforms, which should be considered in applications operating in a similar frequency range as our tests.These findings show the complexity of submarine cable mechanics and their impact on optical sensing performance. Understanding these processes is critical for calibrating transfer functions and improving the reliability of fibre-based geophysical observations. In addition to these findings, we also discuss the limitations of our methodology, which primarily arise from the limited range of seismic source frequencies available. Our work presents a first step towards understanding the complex transfer function of environmental perturbations to optical signals in subsea cables, advancing the vision of large-scale, cost-effective Earth observation systems.[1] Marra, G. et al. Optical interferometry–based array of seafloor environmental sensors using a transoceanic submarine cable. Science 376 (6595), 874–879 (2022)[2] Fairweather, D.M., Tamussino, M., Masoudi, A. et al. Characterisation of the optical response to seismic waves of submarine telecommunications cables with distributed and integrated fibre-optic sensing. Sci Rep 14, 31843 (2024)[3] Fichtner, A., Bogris, A., Nikas, T. et al. Theory of phase transmission fibre-optic deformation sensing. Geophysical Journal International, 231(2), 1031–1039, (2022)

<p>Indonesia is a country traversed by the Pacific ring of fire and is also the meeting point for tectonic plates, making it prone to various disasters including earthquakes. Many victims who fell during the earthquake disaster were due to a lack of understanding of the community in dealing with the disaster. An understanding of the community regarding earthquake disasters is needed to reduce the risk of earthquake disasters, one of which is done for students. Efforts to reduce earthquake risk can be done by developing earthquake learning media and applying it to students. The development of this learning media uses the 4D Model. The results showed that the use of earthquake learning media was effective in increasing students' understanding in dealing with earthquake disasters, so that this could unravel the risk of earthquake disasters for students.</p>

This study aims to map the risk of earthquake disasters in Botteng Village, Mamuju Regency, after the devastating earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale that hit the area on January 15 2021. The earthquake caused heavy damage, around 90% of the 350 houses were seriously damaged, causing many fatalities and injuries. This research uses a combined methodology from the Disaster Imagination Game (DIG) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to conduct a comprehensive earthquake risk analysis in the region. This participatory approach enables community involvement in identifying vulnerabilities and assessing risk levels while utilizing spatial analysis to effectively visualize data. The research results show that most of the Botteng Village area has a high risk of earthquake disasters, namely 1,507.13 hectares potentially at high risk, 978.94 hectares at medium risk, and 663,177 hectares at low risk. These findings underscore the critical need to increase public awareness and disaster preparedness, as well as improve mitigation strategies for effective disaster risk reduction in the future. The implications of this research are very significant for local governments and disaster management institutions, in mitigating disasters by integrating community perspectives with GIS technology.

Evaluation of tsunami disaster risk for a coastal region requires reliable estimation of tsunami hazard, for example, wave amplitude close to the shore. Observed tsunami data are scarce and have poor spatial coverage, and for this reason probabilistic tsunami hazard analysis (PTHA) traditionally relies on numerical simulation of “synthetic” tsunami generation and propagation toward the coast. Such an approach has been extensively studied in the past and it is widely recognized as an important disaster‐risk mitigation tool. PTHA can not only provide less uncertain and spatially coherent hazard estimates in comparison with classical empirical data analysis which is restricted at the tide gauge stations, but also local inundation information. In this paper, we explore a purely statistical alternative to traditional PTHA for evaluation of tsunami amplitude hazard. Here, we use tide gauge measurements of tsunami amplitude along the western United States, specifically California and Oregon, and develop a spatial Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) to assess tsunami hazard from far‐field earthquake sources at various recurrence intervals. The configuration of our model incorporates latent Gaussian fields that utilize information on the distance between tide gauges as well as on the continental shelf width, that is, a covariate linked to potential dissipative effects on wave energy as the tsunami travels over shallow water. Through our BHM, we produce spatially continuous probabilistic maps of far‐field tsunami hazard which can aid comprehensive tsunami disaster risk reduction and management.

The rapid development of the coastal area for settlement and commercial service could increase vulnerability to natural hazards. This study aimed to analyze the settlement development management in the coastal area of Pangandaran Regency of West Java toward tsunami disaster risk mitigation. This study is essential because Pangandaran coastal area faces directly toward the subduction zone between Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates, which lead to tsunami hazard. For vulnerability analysis, spatial analysis was done through existing buildings and spatial planning documents. Recommendation for future management and mitigation to minimize tsunami impact on residential areas was formulated. The results showed that commercial and service zone dominated the land use in Pangandaran coastal area, followed by low-density residential zone, community forests, and mixed-use zone. The spatial analysis also showed that the existing land-use and spatial planning document did not consider the tsunami disaster risk. Hence, our recommendation provided the possible design solution for every potential impact of tsunami and mitigation approach to reduce vulnerability.

With a total of 251,770 casualties and US$280 billion in damages, the loss inflicted by tsunamis between 1998 and 2017 was one hundred times higher than that experienced during the previous decade (1978–1997). The processes of disasters following tsunamis have also become more complex with global impacts. The broad economic and political consequences of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami encouraged the global community to consider the problem of “cascading disasters”. We can categorized the cause and damage due to the 2011 tsunami with incentive and predisposing factors, impact as compound disaster. We also proposed and developed various tsunami fragility functions as essential tools to assess and mitigate damage such as casualties, house/building, marine vessels, pedestrian bridges, road bridges and aquaculture rafts. The process of cascading disasters still remains as major issue and should be studied together with the factors of interdependencies, vulnerabilities, amplification, secondary disasters and critical infrastructure and spin-off effects. Another important issue concerns non-seismic tsunamis, such as those that impacted Palu and Sunda Straight in Indonesia in 2018. These events demonstrated the difficulties and remaining problems regarding tsunami warning and evacuation and the difficulties of real time monitoring and detection. Since tsunamis are low-frequency, high-impact natural hazards, interdisciplinary research on risk perception, awareness, memory and lessons becomes critically important. The process of sharing tsunami experiences underwent a transformation in the form of digital archives and new media in response to the needs and opportunities for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the 21st century. Last but not least, this paper highlights the roles of museum and memorial halls in order to share the experiences of natural hazard-related disasters necessary to inform disaster mitigation.

Background : The coastal community of Bengkulu is still lacking in knowledge about tsunami disaster risk management. Their knowledge is only limited to how to avoid disasters that have come. A real action is needed in an effort to increase community resilience in disaster areas in coastal areas. Community service activities carried out by gathering residents for counseling could not be carried out because it was still in the Covid 19 pandemic, so the STIKES Tri Mandiri Sakti Bengkulu community service group carried out disaster risk reduction efforts by distributing leaflets to the community directly to people's homes. Purpose : The purpose of this community service is to ensure that the community knows how to save themselves, reduce the impact of disasters, and increase knowledge about the tsunami disaster. Methods : The implementation of this community service uses community education methods which are carried out in the form of socialization and distribution of leaflets to 50 residents around the coast. Result : The socialization and distribution of lefalate activities were successful and right on target in the implementation because of the support, cooperation from the Malabero village and the academic community of STIKES Tri Mandiri Sakti Bengkulu. Coclusion : Increasing public knowledge and reducing disaster risk can be effectively carried out by providing direct house-to-house education to coastal communities. Because the community can interact and get information about the tsunami directly by the community service team. coastal communities to be able to participate in disaster management training so that the ability to save themselves when a disaster occurs can be carried out optimally.

Integration of geophysical sensors into commercial submarine telecommunications cable systems has been proposed as a means to provide early warning of earthquake and tsunami events and expand our understanding of the ocean's role in Earth's climate. Submarine telecommunications systems are optimized for high capacity data transmission over long distances and routinely achieve operating lives of 15 to 25 years without experiencing internal faults or failures. The systems consist of pressure housings, incorporated into the cable at intervals of 60 to 150 km, house optical fiber amplifiers, simple power supply circuits, and little else. Modification of these "repeater" housings to incorporate temperature, pressure, and acceleration sensors and deliver communication and power to those sensors with negligible impact on the repeaters' primary telecommunications functions, however, does present certain engineering challenges. Several possible methods of providing a communications channel, isolating the sensors from the repeaters' power supply, and mounting the sensors to the cable or repeater housing are proposed. The impact of each on the performance and reliability of the system are considered. This preliminary analysis shows that the necessary modifications are feasible and identifies several areas for more detailed development.

Each earthquake teaches us on the understanding of earthquakes and the reduction of earthquake disaster risk. Earthquake and disaster phenomenology, although being empirical and to much extent in lack of systematic features, play an important role both in the advancement of earthquake science and technology and in the collaborative efforts for social sustainability.