SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL

General Luna Road, Baguio City Philippines 2600

Telefax No: (074) 442 – 3071 Website: www.ubaguio.com E-mail
Address:ub@ubaguio.edu

“Microcontroller-based Earthquake Early Warning System”

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the subject English for Academic and professional Purposes (CONEAP1)

by
Ines, Magnus Gabriel S.
Mendigoria, Bryan Dave E.
Mendoza, Erin Gweneth P.
Ortiz, Miguel L.
Pascua, Aubrey S.

STEM Engineering: 12 Excellence

Mr. Kevin Jake Angyab

Subject Teacher

Date of Submission:
March 3, 2020

INTRODUCTION
Natural disasters, mainly earthquakes, are devastating that will surely cause great destruction to
properties and to the environment. The Philippines is located along the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire”, it
is at risk due to disasters such as earthquakes. The country got struck by one of the largest and strongest
earthquakes in the world which is the 1990 Luzon earthquake. Baguio City is recorded as one of the
hardest areas that got hit by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake (De La Cruz, 2014). This fact has made the
applicants learn from past experiences and create the advancement of seismic technologies to buildings of
the University of Baguio. The Microcontroller-Based Earthquake Early Warning System device will,
therefore, help the university in alarming the students from ground movements. The device is designed
with sensors, LEDs, buzzers, and a web page that will record the strength of the earthquake. It was
developed for the university to provide real-time earthquake information. The university is constructed
with tall buildings so the device makes a huge impact on students, teachers, staff members and all the
people inside the building since the device is designed to detect if the earthquake already stopped which
signifies evacuation. It is not required to evacuate during earthquakes that is why schools conduct drills
such as duck, cover and hold. The device will serve as a risk reduction measure since schools are
vulnerable to earthquakes.

RATIONALE
Earthquakes are natural disaster that results in high mortality rate and provides danger to people
as well as severe effects to lives, live stocks and properties (Naroju,2019). According to National
Geographic Society (2019), the Pacific Ring of Fire is a geographical area that has the highest occurrence
of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, accounting for 90% of the world’s earthquakes and this includes
the Philippines. The negative impacts or effects are actually due to ignorance, and lack of instruments that
could help in quick dissemination of information regarding the disaster. There are various ways to
disseminate emergencies in times of disaster like speakers and guideline of the officials but the society
has increasing need of necessary equipment or technologies that provides faster response in alarming the
people of the disaster so the researchers came up with the idea of creating a device that automatically
produces alarm. The device also has web server that will record and display the data gathered from the
ground movement that can be useful for the general public for future use and probable predictions to
accomplish actions or responses that is applicable to the situation for safety and protection. The study is
significant in times of emergency particularly earthquake since it would provide an alarm to people for
them to know when to leave the structure. Aside from light and sound alarm, there is a website feature of
the device which would help CDRRMC and PHIVOLCS to see the information related to the earthquake
censored by the device and it would provide data for probable history tracking for future use.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Goal
The goal of the researchers is to build and design a prototype if an earthquake occurs calling it
microcontroller-based earthquake early warning system for alarming people through production of light
for visual detection and sound alarm for hearing detection so that they will be aware that there is an
upcoming earthquake if the device detects ground movement at an acceleration of 0.04 so that people will
have enough time to evacuate their location increasing the chance of surviving the natural disaster. The
researchers were inspired to pursue this project due to that their hometown in Baguio City is prone to
earthquakes.
Objectives
The researchers aim to design an earthquake early warning system that will provide seismic data, data
logs and alarm notifications for the community. It specifically aim to:
a.) determine the accuracy of the response of alarm sound and light of the device
in detecting ground movements;
 b.) determine the speed of transmission of the device as it displays the results in
the webserver; and
c.) test the repeatability and reliability of results obtained from the device.
Research Methodology
The design and implementation of the system will follow the descriptive and applied research
methodology. The systematic analysis approach will be used in collecting the relevant data, details and
preliminary expertise that will be required for the context of the experiment, as well as the electronic
equipment, operating mechanics, theories and concepts as used in the design and construction of the
system. Also, there will be forty trials for every test intended for accuracy and reliability. Applied
research is a methodology used to solve a specific practical problem of an individual or group. This will
be used in the design; construction and testing of the project.
Research Timeline
The research is expected to be completed within 9 months (36 weeks) with the following
activities and allotted time duration for undertaking every sections of the research paper. The duration of
the research will be from August to May of the Academic Year 2019 – 2020. 
1. Title (finalization of research topic): August 2019
2. Introduction: August-September 2019
Need for this Study: September 2019
Objectives: August 2019
Background: August 2019
Literatures: September 2019
3. Methodology: October-November 2019
4. Purchasing of Materials: December 2019 - January 2020
5. Making the Prototype: February 2020
6. Testing and Data Gathering: February 2020
7. Data Analysis and Discussions: March 2020
8. Conclusion and Recommendation: March 2020
9. Other Sections of Research (Abstract, Acknowledgement, etc.): April 2020
A lot will benefit from this project such as the researchers, engineers, and maybe organizations
interested in the said project since the goal is to give more time for people to move away from the event
to prevent them ending up on bad circumstances so in benefiting from this in terms of service will catch
the eye of interested people whom who can help, upgrade or develop the project for the benefit of all
people to lessen tragedies.
BUDGET
Expected Components Quantity Target Completion Budget
Outputs Dates

Sensor and Breadboard 2 02/03/2020 ₱ 200.00

Alarms
LED 2 02/01/2020 ₱ 10.00

Buzzer 2 02/01/2020 ₱ 50.00

Data SD card 1 02/03/2020 ₱ 400.00

Information
Storage ADXL345 Accelerometer 2 02/03/2020 ₱ 600.00

PRi3 1 02/03/2020 ₱ 3,000.00

Ds3231 1 02/03/2020 ₱ 400.00

 ESP32 (x2) 2 02/03/2020 ₱ 1,300.00

Others Power Source (Power 1 02/01/2020 ₱ 1,000.00

Bank)

Router (Wi-Fi) 1 02/01/2020 ₱ 3,000.00

₱ 9,960.00
Total Budget

The table above shows the components needed to make the Earthquake Early Warning
System (EEWS) device. For the sensors and alarms, it will be composed of 2 breadboards, 2
LEDs, and 2 buzzers, with a total of 260 pesos. For the data information storage, it will be
composed of 1 SD card, 2 ADXL345 accelerometers, 1 PRi3, 1 Ds3231, and 2 ESP32 (x2), with
a total of 5,700 pesos. And for the others, it will be composed of 1 power source (power bank)
and 1 router (Wi-Fi), with a total of 4,000 pesos. All in all, the total budget of the components to
make the device is 9,960 pesos.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Name: Magnus Gabriel S. Ines
Address: #126 lower Kitma road, Bakakeng Central, Baguio City
Phone: 09058075024
Email: magnusines3@gmail.com

Name: Bryan Dave E. Mendigoria

Address: #308 Poliwes Apugan, Baguio City
Phone: 09293933249
Email: bdmendigoria31@gmail.com

Name: Erin Gweneth P. Mendoza

Address: 190-T Bugallon St. Aurora Hill, Baguio City
Phone: 09452560692
Email: eringwenethmendoza@gmail.com

Name: Miguel L. Ortiz

Address: #51 A Palma St. Baguio City
Phone: 09193228553
Email: migueelortiz08@gmail.com
Name: Aubrey S. Pascua
Address: Idogan Village, Upper Irisan, Baguio City
Phone: 09203908278
Email: aubreypascua01@gmail.com