Hillsboro an earthquake monitoring site for USGS
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
The city of Hillsboro is now a data collection point for seismic activity.
The U.S. Geological Survey recently installed seismic monitors in a handful of small cities across the U.S., including Salem, Ill., Bedford, Ind., Doniphan, Mo., and Hillsboro.
Hillsboro's monitor is located at the Hillsboro Fire Station on North East Street.
Jonah Merritt, a technician with the USGS, told The Highland County Press that the equipment was installed July 28. However, they don't anticipate Hillsboro to be a site of major earthquake activity.
"We got some ARRA (American Recovering and Reinvestment Act) funding to make our nationwide monitoring system more dense," Merritt said. "It's nothing more than a piece of equipment. Our project is congressionally mandated to record strong motion earthquakes in the U.S. We didn't have a lot of coverage in that area, so we put our four instruments total in the midwest area."
Real-time data from the monitoring station will be available on the USGS website in a few weeks. For more information, visit www.earthquake.usgs.gov.
Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt said that the city doesn't have to do anything, other than house the equipment.
"They said they would install it, and it would be no cost to the city," Holt said.
According to the USGS website, The mission of ANSS is to provide accurate and timely data and information products for seismic events, including their effects on buildings and structures, employing modern monitoring methods and technologies.
The mission goes along with the National Earthquakes Hazards reduction program, which has the following four goals:
• Establish and maintain an advanced infrastructure for seismic monitoring throughout the United States that operates with high performance standards, gathers critical technical data, and effectively provides information products and services to meet the Nation's needs. An Advanced National Seismic System should consist of modern seismographs, communication networks, data processing centers, and well-trained personnel; such an integrated system would constantly record and analyze seismic data and provide timely and reliable information on earthquakes and other seismic disturbances.
• Continuously monitor earthquakes and other seismic disturbances throughout the UnitedStates, including earthquakes that may cause a tsunami or precede a volcanic eruption, with special focus on regions of moderate to high hazard and risk.
• Thoroughly measure strong earthquake shaking at ground sites and in buildings and critical structures. Focus should be in urban areas and near major active fault zones to gather greatly needed data and information for reducing earthquake impacts on buildings and structures.
• Automatically broadcast information when a significant earthquake occurs, for immediate assessment of its impact. Where feasible, for sites at distance from the epicenter, broadcast an early warning seconds before strong shaking arrives. Provide similar capabilities for automated warning and alert for tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
"To achieve these goals, ANSS will establish nationwide network of over 7000 earthquake sensor systems, serving all areas of the country subject to earthquake hazards and providing dense coverage in 26 at-risk urban areas (see map). Sensors will be located both in the ground and in buildings and other structures. The system will provide real-time earthquake information for emergency response personnel, provide engineers with information about building and site response to strong shaking, and provide scientists with high-quality data needed to understand earthquake processes and structure and dynamics of the solid earth," according to the website.
The city of Hillsboro is now a data collection point for seismic activity.
The U.S. Geological Survey recently installed seismic monitors in a handful of small cities across the U.S., including Salem, Ill., Bedford, Ind., Doniphan, Mo., and Hillsboro.
Hillsboro's monitor is located at the Hillsboro Fire Station on North East Street.
Jonah Merritt, a technician with the USGS, told The Highland County Press that the equipment was installed July 28. However, they don't anticipate Hillsboro to be a site of major earthquake activity.
"We got some ARRA (American Recovering and Reinvestment Act) funding to make our nationwide monitoring system more dense," Merritt said. "It's nothing more than a piece of equipment. Our project is congressionally mandated to record strong motion earthquakes in the U.S. We didn't have a lot of coverage in that area, so we put our four instruments total in the midwest area."
Real-time data from the monitoring station will be available on the USGS website in a few weeks. For more information, visit www.earthquake.usgs.gov.
Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt said that the city doesn't have to do anything, other than house the equipment.
"They said they would install it, and it would be no cost to the city," Holt said.
According to the USGS website, The mission of ANSS is to provide accurate and timely data and information products for seismic events, including their effects on buildings and structures, employing modern monitoring methods and technologies.
The mission goes along with the National Earthquakes Hazards reduction program, which has the following four goals:
• Establish and maintain an advanced infrastructure for seismic monitoring throughout the United States that operates with high performance standards, gathers critical technical data, and effectively provides information products and services to meet the Nation's needs. An Advanced National Seismic System should consist of modern seismographs, communication networks, data processing centers, and well-trained personnel; such an integrated system would constantly record and analyze seismic data and provide timely and reliable information on earthquakes and other seismic disturbances.
• Continuously monitor earthquakes and other seismic disturbances throughout the UnitedStates, including earthquakes that may cause a tsunami or precede a volcanic eruption, with special focus on regions of moderate to high hazard and risk.
• Thoroughly measure strong earthquake shaking at ground sites and in buildings and critical structures. Focus should be in urban areas and near major active fault zones to gather greatly needed data and information for reducing earthquake impacts on buildings and structures.
• Automatically broadcast information when a significant earthquake occurs, for immediate assessment of its impact. Where feasible, for sites at distance from the epicenter, broadcast an early warning seconds before strong shaking arrives. Provide similar capabilities for automated warning and alert for tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
"To achieve these goals, ANSS will establish nationwide network of over 7,000 earthquake sensor systems, serving all areas of the country subject to earthquake hazards and providing dense coverage in 26 at-risk urban areas (see map). Sensors will be located both in the ground and in buildings and other structures. The system will provide real-time earthquake information for emergency response personnel, provide engineers with information about building and site response to strong shaking, and provide scientists with high-quality data needed to understand earthquake processes and structure and dynamics of the solid earth," according to the website.