An Agent-Based System for the Prevention of Earthquake-Induced Disasters

The presented study aims to provide for a generally higher level of safety for people in hazardous situations by using an agent-based intelligent adaptive system. A design of a software system for the prevention of earthquake secondary disasters is presented. The proposed system is to control consumer electronics and other potentially dangerous equipment in a household, and also to guide evacuation of the inhabitants. The system utilizes three types of control rules: general, family-related, and specialized for each type of consumer electronics. As there can often be operational conflicts if applying the rules simultaneously, a conflict-resolving mechanism is implemented, based on an optimization algorithm for weighted constraint satisfaction problems. The system operation is explained, and its prototype is developed. The prototype is used in a pilot study and also in a simulation experiment. The obtained results demonstrate the feasibility and potential usefulness of the proposed design solutions.