Using Fiber Optic Technology to Track Earthquakes

Recently, earthquakes have caused great danger in many parts of the world including Mexico, who experienced an earthquake that reached a magnitude of 7, killing hundreds of people as well destroying Mexico City. It is important to realize that these earthquakes could just keep increasing in strength, bringing complete chaos to vulnerable areas. As a result of this, scientists have been using optical fibers in order to sense vibrations caused by these earthquakes. Stanford University has been putting in extensive work by installing a 3 mile test loop of these optical fibers around the campus to test earthquakes in the area. Since the start of this project, the team at Stanford has recorded 800 seismic events with the fiber optics system. These recordings have come from the Mexico earthquake along with quarry blasts in the area. An image of the system is shown below.

Map shows location of a 3-mile, figure-8 loop of optical fibers installed beneath the Stanford campus as part of the fiber optic seismic observatory. Image credit: Stamen Design and the Victoria and Albert Museum

The fact that the team is using a fiber optic system is nothing new in the world of technology as many oil and gas companies use it as a standard operating procedure, called DAS or distributed acoustic sensing. However, Biondo Biondi, the professor who is in charge of the fiber optic seismic observatory at Stanford, has made an adjustment to this system by using free-floating cables in plastic piping rather than trying to stabilize the cables in cement. This is important because Biondi's way works just as well, but it is a cheaper alternative. The only other way of measuring this is by using seismometers, which has better sensitivity for activity, but the coverage is sparse and can be expensive to both install and maintain.

With the use of these fiber optic systems, earthquakes will be easier to predict and precaution can be used. Every meter of optical fiber act as sensors and is very cheap to install. This will be very useful all over the world as earthquakes continue to destroy homes, towns, and countries.