Earthquake response service
Stay or evacuate. A data-based decision.
When an earthquake strikes, the decisions you make in the next few minutes matter most. Sentinel™ measures the shaking at your building and tells you what to do.
Trusted on critical assets
An earthquake strikes. Now what?
The decisions you make in the next few minutes affect the safety of the people in your care, the continuity of your business and the operation of your building. In the past that call was made on a visual glance and a best guess, and too often it meant evacuating a sound building for days, or staying in one that was not safe.
Sentinel measures the actual earthquake shaking at your building, compares it against what your building was designed to withstand, and sends you a clear status and course of action, straight to your phone. When the uncertainty and panic set in, you reach for a calm, focused, data-based decision.
How Sentinel works
Three steps, in minutes
Step 1
Measure
Sensors placed through your building record how it actually moves in an earthquake, from the smallest tremor to a major event. Each one captures acceleration on all three axes at 200 samples a second, continuously, so the record reflects your building's real response, not just the shaking at ground level.
Step 2
Compare
The moment the shaking stops, Sentinel works out how hard your specific building was hit, and whether that is within what it was designed to withstand. It converts the measured acceleration into a ground response spectrum and compares it directly against your building's own NZS 1170.5 limit-state curves, calculated for its importance, soil type, regional risk and distance to the nearest fault. Not a regional average. Your building.
Step 3
Act
Within minutes you get a clear status and a recommended action, by app, SMS and email. Anyone on site can read it and act.
- White — the ground response spectrum was within the SLS and ULS limit curves. Business as usual.
- Amber — the spectrum exceeded the SLS curve but was within the ULS limit curve. Inspect for hazards.
- Red — the spectrum exceeded the ULS limit curve. Evacuate immediately.
Why a measured answer beats a guess
It is specific to your building. Shaking varies enormously over short distances. In central Wellington you can go from solid rock to reclaimed land in a few hundred metres, which is why some buildings were badly damaged in the 2016 Kaikoura quake while others nearby were untouched. The only way to know the shaking at your location is to measure it there. Sentinel does.
It is a decision, not a dashboard. Sentinel does not hand you a screen of data to interpret under stress. It gives you a clear status and the action to take, so anyone on site can make the right call.
It is easy to live with. No up-front hardware cost, no installation project and no maintenance burden for you. Sentinel is a subscription service that keeps working in the background until the day you need it.
Where you can get Sentinel
Sentinel is available across New Zealand today. It is built on New Zealand's building code (NZS 1170.5) and backed by a nationwide sensor network, and it already protects buildings for councils, hospitals, airports, property portfolios and businesses around the country.
If you are outside New Zealand, in another country or state, you can register your interest. Sentinel's approach travels, and we work with organisations beyond New Zealand to bring the service to their region. Tell us where you are and what you need to protect, and we will talk you through what that looks like.
Trusted where the stakes are high
Sentinel protects buildings for organisations that cannot afford to guess: councils, hospitals, fire stations, airports, property portfolios and businesses across New Zealand. It grew out of a real deployment at Christchurch Airport that kept the skies open through the Canterbury earthquakes, and it is now chosen by the likes of Wellington City Council to make fast, building-by-building occupancy decisions.
Make the next earthquake a decision, not a panic
Talk to us about a Sentinel subscription for your building or workplace in New Zealand, or register your interest if you are outside New Zealand.
Sentinel questions
What does Sentinel do?
Sentinel measures the earthquake shaking at your building, compares it against your building's own design limits, and sends you a clear white, amber or red status with an action to take, by app, SMS and email, within minutes of an event.
Is Sentinel available in my country?
Sentinel is available across New Zealand now, where it is built on the New Zealand building code and a nationwide sensor network. If you are outside New Zealand, in another country or state, you can register your interest and we will work with you on bringing Sentinel to your region.
How fast is the answer?
Within minutes of the shaking stopping. Sentinel analyses the event automatically and pushes your building's status to your phone, so you are not waiting on an inspection to make the first call.
Do I need to install or maintain anything?
No up-front hardware cost, no installation project and no maintenance burden for you. Sentinel is a subscription service.
What buildings is it for?
Any building where an occupancy decision matters after a quake: offices, hospitals, civic buildings, airports, warehouses and portfolios of property. It is used by councils, building owners, property managers and businesses.
How is Sentinel different from public earthquake data like GeoNet?
Public data tells you an earthquake happened and roughly how big it was. Sentinel tells you what your specific building experienced and what to do about it, which is the answer you actually need to make a stay or evacuate call.