Feasibility study of earthquake early warning systems: The case of tunnels of the Italian high-speed railway network

The fragility curves commonly studied in the structural and geotechnical engineering can be used in the application of seismic Early Warning Systems (EWS) for the real-time estimation of the probability of damage of a structure and the implementation of safety procedures. This represents a valid tool for the mitigation of the seismic risk of the geo- technical work- system. This work presents an innovative approach for the study of the feasi- bility of a seismic Early Warning system applied to underground linear infrastructures. With this regard, the case of the high-speed railways Italian network has been considered. This is a probabilistic approach that exploits the disaggregation of the seismic hazard to define sets of virtual seismic sources potentially affecting railway’s tunnels. Hence, the probability of seismic damage to tunnel structures and the time available for implementing real-time mitigation pro- cedures can be calculated.