Subsea internet cables could help detect an earthquake. According to the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and its partners, telecom cables could be used as an enormous array of the deep-sea scientific sensor. Scientists experimented on an optical-fibre link between UK and Canada.
Installing permanent sensors is costly
Meanwhile, the permanent installation of sensors to monitor the ocean floor is very costly. According to scientists, few sensors exist globally. Dr Giuseppe Marra of the NPL told the BBC, ‘’ “70% of the Earth’s surface is water. However, all the seismic stations are on land because it is too difficult and expensive to install permanent sensors on the seafloor. Meanwhile, plentiful optical fibre cables carry data across the world’s oceans and seas. According to estimates, there are almost 430 around the world.
According to researchers, earthquakes detected and ‘’ocean signals’’ such as currents and waves using a 5, 860 km EXA Infrastructure optical fibre link between Southport, Halifax, Lancashire and Canada.
Dr Mara said, ‘’ if we apply this technique to a large number of cables, we could transform this underwater structure into a giant ray of detectors for earthquakes, ocean currents and more.
He further added, ‘’ Extending the seismic network from land to the seafloor. It will improve our understanding of the internal structure of the earth and its dynamic behaviour. ‘’
Epicentral area detection
Similar to land-based seismometers, cable-based sensors can identify ‘’Epicentral area’’ of an earthquake. This has led to other possibilities such as Deep-water current change monitoring by global warming. It can also be used for climate change’s effect on seafloor temperature. Brian Baptie, head of the Earth seismology team for the British Geological Survey, “It creates an amazing opportunity to observe earthquakes in the middle of oceans at close range. As well as the tantalizing possibility of measuring other natural phenomena like submarine volcanic eruptions and tsunami in future,”
