Ultrastable laser interferometry for earthquake detection with terrestrial and submarine cables

Marra, Giuseppe; Clivati, Cecilia; Luckett, Richard; Tampellini, Anna; Kronjäger, Jochen; Wright, Louise; Mura, Alberto; Levi, Filippo; Robinson, Stephen; Xuereb, André; Baptie, Brian; Calonico, Davide. 2018 Ultrastable laser interferometry for earthquake detection with terrestrial and submarine cables. Science, 361 (6401). 486-490. 10.1126/science.aat4458

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Abstract/Summary

Detecting ocean-floor seismic activity is crucial for our understanding of the interior structure and dynamic behavior of Earth. However, 70% of the planet’s surface is covered by water, and seismometer coverage is limited to a handful of permanent ocean bottom stations. We show that existing telecommunication optical fiber cables can detect seismic events when combined with state-of-the-art frequency metrology techniques by using the fiber itself as the sensing element. We detected earthquakes over terrestrial and submarine links with lengths ranging from 75 to 535 kilometers and a geographical distance from the earthquake’s epicenter ranging from 25 to 18,500 kilometers. Implementing a global seismic network for real-time detection of underwater earthquakes requires applying the proposed technique to the existing extensive submarine optical fiber network.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1126/science.aat4458
ISSN:	0036-8075
Date made live:	19 Nov 2018 14:53 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521613

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