Comparison of Power and Telecommunications Dependencies and Interdependencies in the 2011 Tohoku and 2010 Maule Earthquakes

Abstract

AbstractThis paper compares dependencies and interdependencies between power and telecommunication infrastructures during the 2011 MW 9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan with those in the 2010 MW 8.8 Maule offshore earthquake in Chile. This comparison is important to assess the extent to which particular failure modes and restoration processes are prevalent in two different cases, especially when quantification of infrastructure coupling is still in its infancy. These comparative observations are also relevant for the design and improvement of critical infrastructure and associated resilience. The analysis is conducted by comparing time series of power and telecommunication system damage, outages, and service restoration as field-collected in the regions affected by the respective earthquakes. The metrics used for the comparison, namely the dependence predominance and the restoration delay index, are based on cross-correlation functions and a measure of dependence predominance based on the peak cumulative cros...