An underground seismograph has been installed in Barrow to detect earthquakes across the continent. KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.
Members of EarthScope, a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation, successfully installed a seismograph eighteen feet below the ground in Barrow Friday. The device was placed far below the permafrost, and is one of 200 new stations that will be established across Alaska. Spokeswoman Lea Gardine says the seismographs can sense earthquakes across the state and continent.
“This instrument is actually sensitive enough that it can measure a magnitude 5 or greater earthquake pretty much anywhere in the globe. It’s a nationwide project and will be Alaska-wide by the time it’s done. They’re going to attempt to locate earthquakes all over the globe and see how they interact with the different layers of the earth as it comes up to these different stations.”
The seismograph, along with its 200 friends, covers a grid pattern of Alaska in 50-mile intervals. While some of these stations are meant to replace older models, Gardine says the one in Barrow will help gather new data entirely.
“Having an instrument up in an area where we’ve never had one before is going to help tell more about what else is going on in, especially in the North Slope of Alaska, this Barrow station in particular. There have been a lot of northeast earthquakes and there’s some speculations as to why those earthquakes occur, especially with this recent swarm out in Noatak.”
After their five-year deployment, some of these stations may even become part of the program’s permanent monitoring network.