Feb 26, 2021 21:00:00

A technology called 'early detection of earthquakes with submarine cables' has appeared

'Submarine cables ' are laid in the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to establish intercontinental communication. A new study on 'early detection of earthquakes' using such submarine cables was published in the major academic journal Science.

Optical polarization–based seismic and water wave sensing on transoceanic cables | Science
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6532/931

How one of Google's massive undersea cables detects earthquakes --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/22301097/google-undersea-cable-detects-earthquakes

Your Google search history could help prevent natural disasters
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/google-curie-subsea-cables-earthquake-detection

Zhongwen Zhan, an assistant professor at the California Institute of Technology, announced a method of detecting earthquakes using only existing fiber optic cables already installed on the seabed, without installing additional equipment. Associate Professor Zhan and his colleagues use Google's private submarine cable 'Curie' that connects California and Chile to measure the 'distortion' of optical pulses transferred from December 2019 to September 2020. In the event of an earthquake, we confirmed that the optical pulse was polarized as if the submarine cable was pulled.

According to Associate Professor Zhan and others, it is possible to detect seismic waves and water waves in the 5 to 10 millihertz zone around Curie, and already detect 20 medium- to large-scale earthquakes and magnitude 7.5 earthquakes in southern Oaxaca, Mexico. Reported success. He also said that he 'detected even large waves generated by marine storms,' and said that it could be used not only for detecting earthquakes but also for detecting tsunamis.

Associate Professor Zhan admitted that the accuracy of detecting the location of the earthquake was difficult at the time of the announcement, but claimed that there was no risk of data falsification or equipment theft because this technology does not require additional equipment. 'This technology can increase social benefits without affecting existing systems,' he said, and plans to focus on improving detection accuracy and reducing noise in the future.