Future Opportunities in Regional and Global Seismic Network Monitoring and Science

The past decade has seen improvements in computational efficiency, seismic data coverage, and communication technology - driven by societal expectation for timely, accurate information. While aspects of earthquake research have taken advantage of this evolution, the adoption of improvements in earthquake monitoring has not been fully leveraged. In real-time monitoring, earthquakes are characterized in a vacuum, without building upon our knowledge of past events. New data types may help characterize earthquakes more quickly and accurately. New opportunities exist for rapidly communicating information. With these advances, global seismic monitoring can improve the quality and timeliness of information shared with the public. While we recognize change is necessary, few mechanisms have been available to facilitate such a metamorphosis.



We propose a Powell Center Working Group that tackles these issues by establishing the priorities for future global monitoring efforts, and beginning the implementation of these goals. Perhaps more importantly, we will also build upon the involvement of key earthquake monitoring agencies to improve communication and coordination between these groups, facilitating a lasting and truly global impact to this effort.



Figure: The global distribution of earthquakes, 1900-present, as documented in the USGS/ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Earthquakes are sized by magnitude, and colored according to their depth (white = shallow, black = deep).







Publications:

Principal Investigator(s):

Gavin Hayes (USGS - Geologic Hazards Team)

Paul S Earle (USGS - Geologic Hazards Team)

Harley M Benz (USGS - Geologic Hazards Team)

David J Wald (USGS - Geologic Hazards Team)



Participants:

Kate Allstadt (USGS)

Mike Angove (NOAA)

Sergio Barrientos (Centro Sismológico Nacional, Universidad de Chile)

Greg Beroza (Stanford University)

Glenn Biasi (USGS)

Rémy Bossu (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC))

Xyoli Perez-Campos (Servicio Sismológico Nacional (SSN), Mexico)

Elizabeth Cochran (USGS)

Keiji Doi (Japan Meteorological Agency)

Kevin Furlong (Penn State)

Ken Gledhill (GNS New Zealand)

Michelle Guy (USGS)

Florian Haslinger (Swiss Seismological Service, ETH Zurich)

Lynda Lastowka (USGS)

Thorne Lay (UC Santa cruz)

Sophia Liu (USGS)

Tim Melbourne (Central Washington University)

Anne Meltzer (Lehigh University)

Alberto Michelini (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV))

Meredith Nettles (Colombia University)

Kristine Pankow (U Utah University)

Jascha Polet (Cal Poly Pomona)

Stephanie Prejean (USGS)

Mark Simons (NASA)

Frederik Tilmann (GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences)

Martin Vallée (IPGP, Paris University)

Antonio Villasenor (Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, CSIC, Barcelona)

Greg Wagner (AFTAC)

William Walter (Lawrence Livermore National Lab)

William Yeck (USGS)