Seismologist's project uses public's laptops to monitor and predict earthquakes

April 03, 2008

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A simple idea for monitoring earthquakes that Elizabeth Cochran, a seismologist at UC Riverside, came up with in 2006 is being realized today, and has the potential to save lives in case an earthquake strikes.

The idea involves inviting the public to help monitor earthquakes by simply using their laptop computers at home. In doing so, the laptops join a network of computers designed to take a dense set of measurements that can help capture an earthquake.

Anyone with a personal computer will be able to participate in the experiment once software linking such computers to the project is publicly released, tentatively this summer. The free software, being developed by Cochran and colleagues Jesse Lawrence of Stanford University and Carl Christensen, a software architect and consultant, will be available at the Website BOINC.

Because the project makes use of inexpensive motion sensors, called accelerometers, which are already in place as safety devices in most new laptops, participants incur no significant costs related to the project.

Called "Quake-Catcher Network," the project involves distributed computing, a method in which different parts of a computer program run simultaneously on two or more computers that are in communication with a central server over a network.

"We're turning the laptops' accelerometers into earthquake monitors," said Cochran, an assistant professor of seismology in the Department of Earth Sciences. "With a dense grid of detectors in place, an early warning can be sent through the Internet to neighboring cities should an earthquake strike, giving people up to 10-20 seconds to prepare themselves before the seismic waves reach them."

Already, about 300 people spread around the world are taking part in the Quake-Catcher Network, with roughly a third of the participants in the United States.

"The idea is to fill in the spaces - or holes - in the seismic network currently being used to report earthquakes," Cochran said. "With the public's participation in Quake-Catcher Network, however, we can have a lot more 'stations' recording earthquakes, allowing for a better early warning system. At present in California, no such early warning system for earthquakes exists."

Currently, approximately 350 stations monitor earthquakes in Southern California using underground sensors. They do so, however, not in real time.

"There is a delay of 10-15 seconds from when the sensors record an earthquake to when the data is processed at either Caltech in Southern California or UC Berkeley in Northern California," Cochran explained. "Quake-Catcher Network would process data in real time, as it comes in. And the network can stretch out to any region of the world. Besides being inexpensive, it makes an extremely small demand on CPU resources."

According to Cochran, a person's laptop needs to remain inactive for at least three minutes before the system starts up. "This is to get rid of noise in the data and to ensure that any movement the laptop's accelerometer is detecting is indeed out of the ordinary," she said.

Currently, only Apple computers can participate in the project, but Cochran and her colleagues are working on including other computers in Quake-Catcher Network.

"We also are working on developing an accelerometer which can be plugged into a desktop like a USB flash drive," she said. "That way, we'd have less interference from typing on the keyboard. It also would allow for a more robust and reliable system, with computers running the software all of the time."

Cochran said she plans to make all the data gathered by the sensors freely available to researchers and the public.

"This data can be used to study how a seismic wave propagates in the ground," she said. "How fast a wave travels can give us useful information, such as more details on seismic hazard as well as the structure of the Earth. The denser our network, the clearer will be the picture of what is happening at each step in time. A series of such pictures could be used to develop a movie showing the wave's propagation, which could give us extremely useful information about seismic waves."

Next, Cochran and her colleagues will further test their software program before its release on BOINC; currently, the program is available on very limited release.

Cochran also plans to involve K-12 schools through education and outreach. "We think this would be an excellent project for students to take an interest in," she said, "so we're hoping we'll see more of their participation."

University of California - Riverside

---

---

	Earthquakes (reillustrated) (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Franklyn M. Branley (Author), Megan Lloyd (Illustrator) Read and find out about one of nature's most mysterious forces—the earthquake. Some earthquakes are so small that you don't even feel them, while others can make even big buildings shake! Learn why earthquakes happen, where they are most likely to occur, and what to do if one happens near you.
	DK Readers: Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters by Harriet Griffey (Author) DK is reissuing some of its most beloved Readers with a fresh new look, perfect for 21st century kids! From the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters brings readers face to face with some of the deadliest natural disasters of all time and teaches the scientific forces that cause these incredible events.
	Earthquakes by Seymour Simon (Author) Discusses why earthquakes happen, what their sometimes devastating effects can be, where the danger zones are, and what measures people can take to safeguard themselves.
	Time For Kids: Earthquakes! by Editors of TIME For Kids (Author) Earthquakes A small earthquake may just rattle some teacups. But a rare huge quake can bring down cities. Those rumblings are a reminder to pay attention to our earth. Scientists keep careful records of quakes around the world. They try to predict when the next one will happen.
	Jump into Science: Earthquakes by Ellen J. Prager (Author), Susan Greenstein (Illustrator) What causes earthquakes? Where do they happen most? What should you do if you feel the earth shake? Just follow the friendly crow-in-the-know for all the answers!
	Volcano & Earthquake (DK Eyewitness Books) by Susanna van Rose (Author) The most trusted nonfiction series on the market, Eyewitness Books provide an in-depth, comprehensive look at their subjects with a unique integration of words and pictures. DK's classic look at volcanoes and earthquakes, now reissued with a CD and wall chart.
	Earthquakes: Science & Society (2nd Edition) by David S. Brumbaugh (Author) This reader-friendly, carefully illustrated text introduces the scientific, historical, and personal safety aspects of earthquakes. It is significantly broader in perspective than other texts on the subject, providing the basic scientific facts about earthquakes, explaining how the study of earthquakes has progressed through time, offering details on the development of earthquake instruments, and covering immediately practical aspects such as personal safety, building and living in areas prone to earthquakes, and earthquake geography. No prior courses are assumed.
	Earthquakes: 2006 Centennial Update by Bruce Bolt (Author) The ultimate introduction to seismology, written by distinguished scholar and Professor Bruce Bolt, of the University of California, Berkeley, this newly updated edition will provide the best foundation in the field for your introductory students.
	A Study Of Recent Earthquakes by Charles Davison (Author) This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ...
	Earthshaking Science: What We Know (and Don't Know) about Earthquakes by Susan Hough (Author) This is the first book to really make sense of the dizzying array of information that has emerged in recent decades about earthquakes. Susan Hough, a research seismologist in one of North America's most active earthquake zones and an expert at communicating this complex science to the public, separates fact from fiction. She fills in many of the blanks that remained after plate tectonics theory, in the 1960s, first gave us a rough idea of just what earthquakes are about. How do earthquakes start? How do they stop? Do earthquakes occur at regular intervals on faults? If not, why not? Are earthquakes predictable? How hard will the ground shake following an earthquake of a given magnitude? How does one quantify future seismic hazard?As Hough recounts in brisk, jargon-free prose, improvements...