Seismic sensors in the Farallon Islands have been upgraded as part of ShakeAlert network improvements

An earthquake sensing station on the remote Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco was upgraded with new sensors in January and February, according to an announcement from the University of California Berkeley Seismological Laboratory.

The sensors are part of a larger network being developed with funding from the state and the USGS, and will help complete an earthquake detection network covering the entire Pacific Coast.

The network, known as “ShakeAlert,” uses 1,675 sensors from UC Berkeley, USGS, Caltech, the University of Washington, and the University of Oregon. The Digital Seismic Network feeds data into the publicly available MyShake app, designed as an early warning system for impending earthquakes.

The station, located southeast of Farallon Island, 28 miles off the coast, was among the first sensors the university deployed in 1994 while it was building the Berkeley Digital Seismic Network project, said Richard Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismology Laboratory.

The Farallon Islands station is one of a few stations in Northern California west of the San Andreas Fault, making it a critical component in detecting and studying seismology in the region, Allen said.

“It's been upgraded several times since then, but this is our opportunity to turn this into a state-of-the-art site where we have much lower noise levels and can actually detect all the earthquakes that occur in the area,” Allen said.

The task of upgrading the sensor station involved seven round trips from Half Moon Bay Airport to transport all the necessary equipment, which cost about $90,000 more than replacing a station on the mainland, according to the university.

Seven engineers landed by helicopter on the island for eight days to complete the work. They discovered that the old equipment was dusty, rusty, and damaged by wind, mice, and birds such as gray petrels.

The team installed two types of devices called accelerometers, which measure ground acceleration. One is known as a powerful motion sensor, which measures strong earthquakes, and the other is called a broadband seismometer, which can detect smaller earthquakes.

Instead of being protected by wooden boards glued together, like older sensors, the new sensors were mounted on cement foundations and placed inside aluminum cylinders packed with glass beads for protection, then the entire sensor was placed in a stainless steel box that was bolted to rocks.

Jonah Merritt, director of field operations for the seismic laboratory, said detailed planning helped make the mission a success, despite the challenges it entailed.

“It went shockingly well,” Merritt said. “This has been the most involved project we've ever done, honestly.”

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