Seattle’s Seismic Stadium The state of Washington sits above a major earthquake-generating fault, th

Seattle’s Seismic Stadium The state of Washington sits above a major earthquake-generating fault, the Cascadia subduction zone, where the Juan de Fuca plate sinks beneath North American. Consequently, the city is well covered with instruments capable of detecting even small seismic signals.In 2011, during a football game by the Seattle Seahawks, Marshawn Lynch, the running back for the Seahawks, scored a touchdown on an impressive play, causing the stadium crowd to respond with such intense applause and jumping up and down that it shook the station. Those vibrations were actually measured by a seismic station a block away and equivalent in energy to about a magnitude 1 earthquake. The signal became nicknamed the “beast quake” after Lynch’s nickname.This seismic station has measured a few similar events since then during Seahawks games, but now local geologists have decided to push this measurement forward.One of the most promising advances in earthquake response is the possibility of an Earthquake early warning system. When an earthquake begins, the closest seismic stations can detect an earthquake and send out a warning signal at the speed of light using modern communication networks.That signal moves faster than the earthquake and can give a warning before the shaking hits population centers. It can be used to protect major infrastructure, like causing power plants to shut down and trains to slow down, of even do small but hugely important things like opening garage doors at fire stations so that emergency services can get out easily. It can even send warnings to cell phones, alerting people to take shelter in advance. That system is gradually being tested and even worked in the recent Napa Valley earthquake (http://tmblr.co/Zyv2Js1TI_Sjs).Tonight, the Seattle Seahawks are hosting a home playoff game, and geologists are going to make use of the game. They’ve placed new seismic instruments near the stadium and linked those signals to a computer network similar to the warning system. That signal will be sent out to both test receivers and the internet as well, and due to tape delay, the signals on the internet will actually arrive several seconds before almost all television signals.  The link to the website is below.The seismic warning signal during tonight’s game, therefore, will actually serve as an early warning system to actually look up and watch the TV.This is another test of the system, but perhaps more importantly, it’s a good outreach event for it in a key area, the Pacific Northwest. We can build this system right now. The technology is ready to go, it’s actually been shown to work, but right now all we need is money.It will take money to link all of the current seismic stations to an integrated network able to set off a warning in key areas and link power stations and transit networks to this system, but at this point that’s all that is standing in the way. So while tonight’s test might be interesting, it might be most useful in reminding people that we have this system ready to go and waiting for deployment.Oh, and I’m also supposed to note this isn’t the only stadium in the country where this has happened. Apparently a class at Wisconsin has actually measured signals from games there as well, but I will give the Seahawks fans credit for actually shaking a station in place nearby. If other fanbases want more credit…we need more seismic stations! It’s really the only way we’ll know which fanbase sets off the largest quake.-JBBImage credits: Alexa Vaughn / The Seattle Timeshttp://bit.ly/1cSMOBUMichael Hanson/NY Timeshttp://nyti.ms/17ttlLcTrack the game:http://pnsn.org/seahawks/quickshakeWisconsin measurement:http://t.co/eNWCPToaHx -- source link
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