Most people know the seismograph, those ultrasensitive instruments that record every small shift in the Earth’s crust.
But did you know that the very latest method for measuring earthquakes involves fiber optic cables that carry internet data around the world?
Stanford geophysicist Biondo Biondi says that the waves of energy sent forth by an earthquake cause fiber optic cables to stretch and contract ever so slightly. Using precise mathematical algorithms, experts like Biondi can measure earthquake intensity, making every meter of fiber optic cable a potential seismograph and dramatically increasing the data experts can gather in a day. Biondi’s sensor arrays are so sensitive they can detect sinkholes, landslides and even the rumblings of failing urban infrastructure.
These new technologies – and the secrets they might reveal – are only starting to emerge, as Biondi tells listeners in this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast with host Russ Altman. Listen and subscribe here.
Related research
Harnessing fiber-optic networks to map earthquake trouble spots
A study provides new evidence that the same optical fibers that deliver high-speed internet and HD video to our homes could one day provide an inexpensive observatory for monitoring and studying earthquakes.
Building a ‘billion sensors’ earthquake observatory with optical fibers
Geophysics professor Biondo Biondi's group has shown that it’s possible to convert the jiggles of perturbed optical fiber strands into information about the direction and magnitude of seismic events.
Media Contacts
Biondo Biondi
Geophysics
biondo@stanford.edu
Josie Garthwaite
School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
(650) 497-0947; josieg@stanford.edu
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