Alan Kafka, Justin Starr, Anastasia Moulis
Weston Observatory
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Boston College
Tammy Bravo
IRIS Consortium
Ben Coleman
Department of Computer Science
Moravian College
John Taber
IRIS Consortium
What (and Where) is an Earthquake Observatory
in the 21st Century?
In the early 1900s, an earthquake observatory was a building
housing seismographs. Now the concept of an earthquake
observatory has evolved into much more than “bricks and
mortar” - it is a distributed network for earthquake monitoring
and research, and for providing educational and public
outreach resources about all aspects of the science of
seismology and earthquake hazards.
We are experimenting with different ways to present
seismograms and other earthquake information to optimize
the dissemination of information for the many different
audiences that are served by the earthquake observatory of
the 21st Century.
What (and Where) is an Earthquake
Observatory in the 21st Century?
Mid1900s
2013 and beyond…
Weston Observatory
in the 21st Century...
Seismology
Research
•
•
•
•
Earthquakes
Monitoring Planet Earth
Earth’s Interior
Earth Processes
Science
Education
Public
Outreach
Science Education
and Public Outreach
Through Seismology
The Earthquake Observatory of the 21st Century
is a variety of things to a variety of people:

People feel earthquakes & are concerned about their effects.

People find out about earthquakes through news media & want
the observatory to be a reliable resource to explain what
happened.

Students record earthquakes with seismographs in schools.

Research seismologists record earthquakes in unprecedented
ways & new earthquakes inform advances in research on a
daily basis.

Earthquakes sometimes change the political landscape (such
as Fukushima nuclear disaster…)

Large earthquakes are regional, and sometimes global, social
events.

And, more...
Fukushima’s Fallout: The Half-Lives of
Nuclear Refugees
October 3, 2013
To this day, the plant still leaks toxic, radioactive water and tens of thousands of
“nuclear refugees” from nearby towns are still outcasts in their own lands.
Seismological observatories operate a variety of types of
seismographs, each “tuned in” to some aspect of watching the
Earth quake. We monitor earthquakes recorded by “research
seismographs” and by “educational seismographs” in schools
and other publicly accessible locations. Seismographs in
classrooms, and other publicly accessible locations, give
students of all ages direct experience with recording
earthquakes. But these inexpensive educational seismographs
are limited in terms of their quality of seismic recording
compared to what can be achieved with much more expensive
research seismographs.
A new development is now enabling us to integrate these two
aspects of our seismic recording. New software (currently in beta
testing) called jAmaSeis, being developed by Incorporated
Research Institutions for Seismology, in collaboration with
Moravian College, makes it possible to bring educational and
research seismograph data together in the same seismogram
viewing and analysis environment.
jAmaSeis
Boston College
Sitting Bull Academy
Peru, Magnitude 7.0
September 25, 2013
Devlin Hall
Weston Observatory
Noisy site, but direct
access to seismograph.
Quiet site, but remote.
BC-ESP Bicoastal Quake Watchers
August 10, 2013
jAmaSeis
Weston, MA (WOBC)
Boston College
SBCA
California
3.8
Magnitude
3.8
WOBC
Apple Valley, CA (SBCA)
Sitting Bull Academy
California
3.8
3.3 Aftershock
Magnitude 3.8 Earthquake: Pine Valley, California
(and Magnitude 3.3 Aftershock)
jAmaSeis
August 4, 2013
Weston, MA (WOBC)
Boston College
Canada
5.3
California
3.9
SBCA
Canada
5.3
WOBC
Apple Valley, CA (SBCA)
Sitting Bull Academy
California
3.9
Canada
5.3
Boston College Educational Seismology Project
Hollis Center, Maine
Magnitude 4.0
October 16, 2012
16 sec
16 sec
Weston Observatory
Gleason Public Library
Carlisle, MA
Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake: Alaska, August 30, 2013
Devlin Hall, Boston College
(EQ1 Educational Seismograph)
Weston, MA
(NESN Research Seismograph)
Magnitude 7.7
September 24, 2013
Pakistan
Earthquake
and
Aftershock:
Illustration
of the
Concept of
Magnitude
Magnitude 6.8
September 28, 2013
“Touchfoil” Project:
People of all ages interact
with air quality data to
engage in science “on the
spot”...
?
From: Mike Barnett
Boston College
Lynch School of Education
Possibilities for doing
the same thing with
earthquakes:
People of all ages could
interact with seismic data to
engage in science “on the
spot” in schools, libraries
and other public places.