2009 IRIS/ORFEUS
Metadata Workshop
November 2009 / Cairo, Egypt
Establishment of the Libyan
National Seismological
Network (LNSN): An efforts
aimed at assessing and
mitigating natural disaster
risks on the National and
regional scale
Abdunnur Ben Suleman,
Email: abdunnurs@yahoo.com
The Scientific Advisor of the
Libyan National Seismological
Network (LNSN)
&
The Chairman of
Geophysics Department /Faculty
of Science : Al Fateh University
ABSTRACT
The tectonic evolution of Libya, located at the northern extreme of the
African continent, has yielded a complex crustal structure that is
composed of a series of basins and uplifts. The present day
deformation of Libya is the result of the Eurasia-Africa continental
collision. The recorded number of earthquakes in Libya was not
representative of the actual total number before the establishment of
the Libyan National Seismograph network. A number of reasons
contribute to this fact among which are the small number of seismic
stations in the area and the limitations on instrumental sensitivity
before 1950. This scientific fact was fully proven after the
establishment of the Libyan National Seismograph Network (LNSN)
operated since November of the year 2005. The LNSN consists of an
up-to-date 15 broadband digital national network stations, utilizing
state of the art VSAT communication technology, and a Central
Processing Center, located in the City of Ghariyan, Libya.
ABSTRACT
This presentation aims to explain in detail the main
objectives of the LNSN, both on local and regional
scales, and to explain the new picture of the
seismicity and seismic hazard of Libya.
The newly compiled Libyan catalogue represents the
main source of data through which we analytically
reanalyze earthquake activity of Libya with the aim of
improving the earthquake hazard assessment of the
Country. Different sources were used in the
compilation process within a geographical window
limited by the 19 Deg. N and 35 Deg. N parallels and
the 9 Deg. E and 26 Deg. E meridians.
ABSTRACT
The LNSN network was designed to monitor local, regional and
teleseismic activities, as well as to provide high quality data for
research projects both locally and on the regional and global scale. At
first glance the seismic activity map shows dominant trends of
seismicity with most seismic activity concentrated along the northern
coastal areas. Four major seismic trends were noticeable. A first trend
is a NW-SE direction coinciding with the eastern boarder of the Hun
Graben. A second trend is also a NW-SE direction in the offshore area
and might be a continuation of this trend. The other two trends were
located in the western Gulf of Sirt and Cyrenaica platform. The rest of
seismicity is diffuse either offshore or in land, with no good correlation
with well-mapped faults.
This presentation aims to explain in detail:



The Libyan National Seismological Network
(LNSN) and its main objectives both on the local
and regional scales.
Discuss the Recent seismic activity for the
period 2005 to 2008 as recorded by the LNSN.
Analytically reanalyze earthquake activity of
Libya with the aim of improving the earthquake
hazard assessment of the Country.
Establishment of the Libyan National Seismological
Network (LNSN): An efforts aimed at assessing and
mitigating natural disaster risks on the National and
regional scale
PRESENTATION OULINE





Location and Regional Tectonic Setting.
Seismicity Before the Establishment of the
LNSN.
The Libyan National Seismological Network
(LNSN)
Seismicity After the Establishment of the LNSN.
Conclusions.
Location and Regional
Tectonic Setting
The tectonic evolution of Libya,
located at the northern extreme
of the African continent, has
yielded a complex crustal
structure that is composed of a
series of basins and uplifts.
The present day deformation of
Libya is the result of the
Eurasia-Africa continental
collision.
The LNSN network was designed to monitor local, regional and
teleseismic activities, as well as to provide high quality data for
research projects both locally and on the regional and global scale
The LNSN consists of an
up-to-date 15 broadband
digital national network,
utilizing state of the art
VSAT communication
technology, and a Central
Processing Center, located
in the City of Ghariyan,
Libya.
Location of the Libyan National
Seismological Network (LNSN) Stations.
List of the Libyan Seismograph
Network Stations (LNSN) with
location and station elevation.
Code Lat(deg min) Lon(deg min) Elevation (m) Station. name
ALAS
LGHD
LJBD
LJFR
LKFR
LMSR
LSHF
LSRT
LTBQ
LTRP
LUJL
LUMB
LZLA
LGHR
LMRJ
32 50.55
30 01.00
30 54.78
29 06.11
24 09.68
32 18.75
29 59.21
31 04.87
32 03.34
32 50.68
29 07.15
26 08.29
28 33.22
32 07.32
32 34.91
11 36.83
9 26.53
20 11.89
15 48.77
23 12.73
15 00.50
14 14.86
16 39.49
23 55.26
13 09.80
21 18.16
14 45.12
17 33.68
13 05.18
20 52.54
73
600
49
351
413
114
429
95
139
83
95
474
239
709
408
AL-ASSA
GHDAMES
ADJABYA
JUFRA
KUFRA
MISRATH
SHWAIRF
SIRT
TOBRUQ
TRIPOLI
UJELA
MURZUK
ZALLA
GHARYAN
AL-MARJ
Conclusions
Detailed investigations of the Libyan
seismicity indicates that Libya has
experienced earthquakes of varying
magnitudes and that there is definitely a
certain amount of seismic risk involved in
engineering projects, particularly in the
northern regions.
Conclusions
The Seismicity map of Libya, using the
new data as recorded by the LNSN gives a
better picture of the seismicity of Libya
and suggested that the country is indeed
a seismic prone country with a clear
seismic cluster areas in the northern part
of the country.
Conclusions
It is extremely important to formulate a
code of practice for designing
earthquake-resistant structures especially
in the northern part of the country
‫شكرا على حسن االنتباه‬
Merci Pour Votre Attention
Thank you for Your Attention