Seismoacoustic monitoring of eastern mediterranean earthquakes toward a tsunami early warning system for Egypt

Tsunami early warning systems (TEWSs) issue alerts that can save lives. Egypt, as a coastal nation, is particularly vulnerable to tsunamis generated by seismic activity along the Hellenic and Cyprus arcs. This study examines earthquakes with a W-phase moment magnitude (M[Formula: see text]) of 5.5 or greater that occurred in the eastern Mediterranean Sea between 2012 and 2023 using data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The earthquakes were automatically analyzed by the SeisComP3 (SC3) software. The P-wave moment magnitude (Mwp) and body-wave magnitude (mB) were used to obtain the moment magnitude M[Formula: see text] using the equation implemented in SeisComP3. Magnitude values were calculated at 6 and 11 minutes and then compared to M[Formula: see text]. The decision matrix (DM) was applied to the different magnitude types to validate the accuracy of magnitude values in the first alert. Results indicated that tsunami warnings based on M[Formula: see text] (Mwp) were more accurate than those derived from M[Formula: see text] (mB). The M[Formula: see text] (Mwp) produced 87.5% accurate alerts in 11 minutes compared to 84.4% in 6 minutes. Considering tsunami travel times for the analyzed earthquakes, 11 minutes would be sufficient time for the implementation of tsunami countermeasures in Egypt. Additionally, infrasound waves generated by these earthquakes in the Mediterranean Sea were detected over vast distances from the epicenter. Frequency-wavenumber (F-K) analysis of infrasound waves could contribute to earthquake location verification. Infrasound wave propagation is among the most critical factors affecting infrasound recordings. Therefore, for using infrasound technology for detecting future disasters, a comprehensive understanding of wave propagation is crucial for optimizing infrasound data acquisition and applications, especially with constructing local infrasound observatories in Egypt for monitoring.