Projects Database

The Lamont Cooperative Seismographic Network and the Advanced National Seismic System: Earthquake Hazard Studies in the Northeastern United States

Earth Institute Contact: Dr. Won-Young Kim

Special Locations:
Northeastern United States

Description:
Development of a reliable rapid earthquake response system is a critical issue for the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). In order to accomplish this, new goals have been specified by the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP)/USGS:
1) Continued seismic monitoring for improved delineation of seismogenic faults and evaluation of hazards associated with earthquakes;
2) Improved real-time data exchange between regional networks and the USNSN and expanded earthquake reporting capabilities; and
3) To promote effective dissemination of earthquake data and processed information derived from regional networks.

To achieve these new goals, LCSN acquires seismic waveform data in near-real-time, processes the digital signals in automated fashion for determining the location and magnitude of the detected events, and issues rapid earthquake alerts. Event parameters are promptly contributed to the ANSS composite earthquake catalog via QDDS (Quick Data Distribution System) and are available through “Recent Earthquakes” provided to the public, with URL: . We propose to implement timely determination of seismic moment tensor and focal depth, including events with lower magnitude (M ? 3.5) in the northeastern US. We also propose to generate the ShakeMaps of Instrumental Intensity, Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), Peak Ground Velocity (PGV), and Peak Response Spectral Amplitudes at various periods (e.g., 0.3, 1 and 3 sec). The ShakeMaps have greater impact to the general public, rapid earthquake response, emergency management agencies, and earthquake engineering community.

ShakeMap represents a significant step forward in the development of real-time seismic information relevant to post-earthquake emergency management. For regional seismic monitoring networks in the eastern US, rapid generation of the ShakeMaps pose challenging tasks, because it requires timely collection of high-quality ground motion data, and comprehensive knowledge on ground motion attenuation, regional geology and shallow site conditions.

This project addresses NEHRP Program Element I - National and Regional Earthquake Hazards Assessments, since we propose to characterize active faults and define the depth of the seismogenic layer in the northeastern US, thereby providing basic data to evaluate seismic potential of the region. We also provide focal depth and other parameters which must be used to evaluate the results produced by commonly used algorithms such as HAZUS for assessing earthquake hazards in the region. This project also addresses the program Element III - Research on Earthquake Occurrence, Physics & Effects, since we determine accurate earthquake locations, and maps of the earthquake ground motion.

EI Unit:
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)

Cross Cutting Themes:
Hazards and Risk

Core Disciplines:
Earth Sciences

Project Web Site:
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/LCSN/

Funding Agency:
US Geological Survey

Last Modified: 12-31-1969