May 13, 2008
Turn Your Laptop Into an Earthquake Sensor
If Monday’s earthquake in China has sparked an interest in seismology, and you happen to own a Mac laptop, you can transform your computer into your own personal seismic station. A free program from SeisMac takes advantage of the acceleration sensor inside you computer to register when it gets the shakes. The program was developed with support from the National Science Foundation and from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, a consortium of nearly 100 universities.
In the near future, you may be able to participate in earthquake science through a new project called the Quake-Catcher Network. Researchers from several California universities have created the network to use the distributed power of people’s laptops to provide quick data about the strength of shaking during earthquakes. The program works with many kinds of laptops. Because wireless networks send signals faster than vibrations can spread through the Earth, data from laptops in theory can speed ahead of the shaking and provide advance warning before harmful seismic waves strike regions that are more distant from a quake’s epicenter.—Richard Monastersky
Posted on Tuesday May 13, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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So, how does SeisMac differentiate earthquakes from the everyday vibrations that surround us?
— Bernie Sloan May 14, 09:12 AM #
Earthquake! Sorry, false alarm—I was just typing an email.
Earthquake! Sorry again, I had to walk to the bathroom.
Tsunami! No, that was the toilet stopped up…again. I need a Mac program that unstops toilets—now that would really help humanity…at least it would help me.
— Pat May 14, 10:12 AM #
I would appreciate a Mac that brewed coffee, and has a superdrive that burns DVDs and toasts bagels. There could be a “Harvard Edition” that baked scones.
— Roberto Gonzalez May 14, 10:40 AM #
Roberto, I think you may have something there. I am assembling a team this morning. The project has been dubbed “The Morning Mac” . A lunchtime version will let you send and receive email, then turn into a roast beef on rye with slaw. This is the greatest idea since Katie Couric on the evening news!
— John at MIT May 14, 10:45 AM #
I think a little statistical averaging could easily tell signal from noise (individual laptop movement from large number shaking at the same time). The web site shows that the laptop must have been quiescent for three minutes so typing won’t be an issue. Wish the Quake-Catcher article pointed to more details, however, it’s a very interesting idea.
— John May 14, 11:49 AM #
Why only Macs, I have AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+
— SHARON THOMAS May 15, 04:20 AM #
Yes, and how about a Linux / open source version?
— M. May 15, 08:17 PM #
This is definitely the best place to post requests for support for additional platforms because The Chronicle is definitely the developer of the software.
Plus Windows and Linux machines all have accelerometers, so the hardware support is definitely available.
(sigh)
— Pete May 16, 12:51 PM #
Hi, folks. Consider this seismic tool as “fun” and whimsical. However, the IRIS Consortium has many very very good teaching tools and resources for K-20 levels. Also their realtime Seismic Monitor with metadata hyperlinks are great! Please do be sure to visit www.iris.org and under programs find these items under “Education and Outreach.”
— Higher Educator in the Natural State of Arkansas May 20, 01:39 PM #