Caltech Uses Existing Underwater Cables to Detect Earthquakes and Tsunamis Ahead of Time
Apr 11, 2021
Seismologists at Caltech working with optics experts at Google have developed a method to use existing underwater telecommunication cables to detect earthquakes. The technique could lead to improved earthquake and tsunami warning systems around the world.
A vast network of more than a million kilometers of fiber optic cable lies at the bottom of Earth’s oceans. In the 1980s, telecommunication companies and governments began laying these cables, each of which can span thousands of kilometers. Today, the global network is considered the backbone of international telecommunications.
Caltech seismologists use underwater cables to detect earthquakes
Shane McGlaun - Feb 26, 2021, 8:09am CST
Seismologists at Caltech have worked with optics experts from Google to develop a new method to detect earthquakes in the ocean. Together, the team developed a method that allows the use of existing underwater telecommunications cables to detect earthquakes. They believe the new technique could lead to improved earthquake and tsunami warnings around the world.
Currently, there is a vast network of fiber-optic cables lying on the bottom of the oceans around the earth. In all, the network of fiber-optic cable spans more than a million kilometers. These cables are the backbone of international telecommunications and Internet services. Researchers have been looking for a way to use submerged cables to monitor seismic activity.
Date Time
Using Submarine Cables to Detect Earthquakes
Seismologists at Caltech working with optics experts at Google have developed a method to use existing underwater telecommunication cables to detect earthquakes. The technique could lead to improved earthquake and tsunami warning systems around the world.
A vast network of more than a million kilometers of fiber optic cable lies at the bottom of Earth’s oceans. In the 1980s, telecommunication companies and governments began laying these cables, each of which can span thousands of kilometers. Today, the global network is considered the backbone of international telecommunications.
Scientists have long sought a way to use those submerged cables to monitor seismicity. After all, more than 70 percent of the globe is covered by water, and it is extremely difficult and expensive to install, monitor, and run underwater seismometers to keep track of the earth’s movements beneath the seas. What would be ideal, researchers say, is
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The company says this is the first cable to feature space division multiplexing (SDM) technology, enabling optical fibers to carry several independent spatial light channels. The Dunant cable uses 12 fiber pairs compared to the eight found in a regular cable. The fibers share a single pump laser to amplify their signal as they travel across the ocean floor traditional cables require a separate repeater for each fiber.
The cable’s naming follows a Google tradition of naming its wholly-owned international undersea cables after famous people from history. Henry Dunant founded the Red Cross and was the first Nobel Peace Prize recipient.