Permanent deep-sea sensors set-up to monitor seismic activities

Europe’s first permanent deep-sea seismic sensor will help to provide early warning of tsunamis.

A submarine seismic sensor was recently set in place at 2,400m depth, off the French coast near Toulon. The instrument was attached to a neutrino telescope developed by the international scientific programme Antares. For the first time in Europe, this sensor, designed by a partnership between Géosciences Azur (Mixed Research Unit IRD/CNRS/UPMC/UNSA, Villefranche sur Mer) and Guralp System (United Kingdom), with the financial support of INSU, Villefranche Oceanological Observatory and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Council, can send real-time deep-sea seismic activity data recorded for the region and for the whole world.

Until now sensors have been dropped from the sea surface and allowed to drift to the ocean floor. These would record several months’ seismic activity and would then be retrieved for data analysis.

The new permanent sensor uses a 40km long cable which links all the elements of the Antares experiment to the coast; from where data is relayed via the Internet to the Géosciences Azur laboratory.

Even though it is not a means of earthquake prediction, the new sensor will provide signs of increased seismic activity and will allow rapid assessment of an earthquake's magnitude and location; and hence whether there is the potential for a tsunami wave to form.

•Date: 8th June 2005 • Region: W.Europe • Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
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