A method for damage detection in a plate structure is presented based on strain waves that are generated by impact or damage in the structure. Strain responses from continuous sensors, which are long ribbon-like sensors made from piezoceramic fibers or other materials, were used with a neural network technique to estimate the damage location. The continuous sensor uses only a small number of channels of data acquisition and can cover large areas of the structure. A grid type structural neural system composed of the continuous sensors was developed for effective damage localization in a plate structure. The ratios of maximum strains and arrival times of the maximum strains obtained from the continuous sensors were used as input data to a neural network. Simulated damage localizations on a plate were carried out and the identified damage locations agreed reasonably well with the exact damage locations.