Intelligent Route Planning for Post-Earthquake Rescues Using IoT

Starting rescue operations quickly after an earth-quake is the best way to save lives in such disasters. In the case of large-scale earthquakes, current post-earthquake response systems cannot determine which building or rescue route would save the most lives due to the lack of real-time data availability. Research gaps include a lack of automation in earthquake damage assessment of buildings, location identification, and estimation of the number of trapped people. To fill these gaps, this article proposed an innovative solution using advanced sensors and cloud services for post-earthquake rescue route planning systems. This system aims to improve rescue operations to save the maximum number of lives in the shortest time and minimize impacts by optimizing resource allocation and overall response efficiency. By filling the existing research gap, our system seeks to provide more responsive and effective solutions to post-earthquake emergencies. Tested in a simulated environment with 16 samples, our system successfully collects and processes data from IoT devices deployed in buildings, classifies structural damage, and estimates the number of people affected. Our approach significantly reduces the time required to initiate rescue operations by providing rescuers with optimized routes to disaster sites, which has potential implications for disaster management strategies.