According to the latest studies by the Taiwan Insurance Institute, the acceptance rate of earthquake insurance up till March 2020 in Taiwan is only 35%. It suggests that it is urgent to increase the awareness of earthquake risk for the public. One of the best solutions could be an intuitive platform to comprehend the earthquake risk to their own property and personal safety before the next devastating earthquake.
Our technology, Temblor Taiwan, uses seismic models and public data to assess the seismic risk of individual buildings. We conduct a probabilistic seismic risk assessment based on the database and models proposed by the Taiwan Earthquake Model and the housing information from open data and end-users. Our interactive interface in the forms of mobile app and website demonstrates customized results for the users who are willing to evaluate. Such platform could avoid traditional widely broadcast that attracts attention in a way that intimidates the public.

This technology will be the first open-access interactive platform for earthquake risk management in Taiwan. We first propose a state-of-the-art seismic hazard assessment to evaluate potential earthquake threaten. Then we assess detailed seismic risk for a specific building through the housing information, including the construction age, building type, floor area, building height, cost of each floor area, type of adopted earthquake insurance, earthquake resistance and reinforcement degree, obtained by mobile app users. Different from the standard announcement by the government in the past, it shares customized risk assessment to estimate potential loss through interaction with end-user.

After launch of this digital seismic risk management platform, it is expected to greatly increase public＇s awareness of earthquake risk, and to make up for the deficiency of the open data by the information provided by the end-user. In addition, the technique will also promote the development of the insurance industry. Users could realize their lack of protection by earthquake insurance through some practical cases to quantify the loss in a devastating earthquake. So that the potential property loss and uncertainty could be minimized.