Mikkel Christensen
Internet cables are no longer just used for online traffic. Scientists are now using them to detect earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other natural disasters.
Internet cables are no longer just used for online traffic. Scientists are now using them to detect earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other natural disasters.
According to BGR, researchers are increasingly using fiber-optic cables to monitor ground and ocean movement in real time.
Hidden network
Millions of miles of fiber-optic cables already stretch across the globe, including roughly 920,000 miles of undersea cables lying on the ocean floor.
Scientists are using a system called distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), which sends laser pulses through the cables to measure tiny vibrations, strain, and movement.
Unlike traditional seismometers that only monitor one location, fiber-optic cables can continuously collect data across huge distances.
Early warnings
The technology recently proved useful during Iceland’s Grindavík volcanic eruption.
The U.S. National Science Foundation reported that the system helped provide a warning 26 minutes before the eruption, giving nearby residents time to evacuate.
Researchers at Caltech also tested the system using a 62-mile section of fiber-optic cable.
The setup gathered data comparable to around 10,000 traditional seismometers, showing how powerful the technology could become.
Deep underwater
Scientists believe the system could also dramatically lower monitoring costs.
California currently operates more than 700 seismometers, each costing up to $50,000, while a DAS system only requires a single interrogator device costing roughly $200,000.
Researchers in the Canary Islands even converted a submarine telecommunications cable into nearly 12,000 strain sensors spread across about 75 miles.
The system successfully detected local earthquakes as well as seismic waves from oceanic earthquakes thousands of miles away.
Sources: BGR, U.S. National Science Foundation
