A high school builds a cheap earthquake warning device

A Southern California high school student developed a low-cost seismometer using parts totaling under $ 100 – a fraction of the cost of a science classroom system. It has designed its device as a consumer product for widespread adoption in homes.

“It’s small, cheap and accessible,” said Vivian He, a student at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills Estates, California. In April, she presented her work at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Seismological Society.

Earthquake early warning

When an earthquake occurs, it generates compressive waves (P) and shear (S) waves, which are emitted from the epicenter across the Earth. Sensors that detect P waves can provide a warning before the S waves arrive.

“Even with just a few seconds of warning, we can provide a useful nudge for people: They can do something to protect themselves.” “Even after a few seconds of warning, we can provide a useful alert to people: Everyone can do something … to protect themselves,” said Angie Chung, a seismologist at the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory in Berkeley, California.

Chung is working on ShakeAlert, an earthquake early warning system on the West Coast of the United States that includes a network of seismic monitoring stations. The system was launched in California in October 2019 and expanded to the Pacific Northwest in the spring of 2021. After sensors detect seismic activity, data is sent to processing centers that determine the size of the earthquake and the affected area. Seconds later, people receive wireless alerts or notifications in the MyShake app.

ShakeAlert is a boon to public safety – but it has a price. According to a 2018 report, the system infrastructure and sensor networks will operate for an estimated $ 39.4 million. However, there are cheaper alternatives. Chung previously worked for the Quake-Catcher Network, a research project that uses low-cost accelerometers – or even laptops with built-in accelerometers – to detect earthquakes. Other projects, including the MyShake app, take a similar approach with smartphones.

Engineering in the Time of COVID-19

In addition to seismic waves from natural sources, seismographs usually deal with the rattling of human activities, such as traffic and sporting events. Due to COVID-19 lockdown measures, seismic noise has subsided by an average of 50% worldwide. After learning about this universal silence, he was mesmerized.

“Since I was at home, I wondered if I could measure it myself.” “Since I was at home, I wondered if I could measure it myself,” she said. With the help of internet searches, he threw himself into the project, reading papers on earthquake detection and learning how to program in Python. She even taught herself to weld using the bathroom as her laboratory.

“The lighting is really good,” he said.

The seismic component of its device is the geophon, a component that converts the earth’s motion into electrical signals. The analog-to-digital converter digits these signals, and the Raspberry Pi computer takes on additional processing. Python software performs analysis, activates an on-board alarm when an earthquake is detected, and even sends text alerts to friends and family.

It was the night he finished writing the code to plot the accelerometer data right before the earthquake in Southern California. When she woke up in the morning, she found that not only had her device picked up the earthquake, but the waveform perfectly matched data from the US Geological Survey station 4 kilometers from her home. Since September, its instrument has captured all earthquakes larger than M3.0 in the region.

The device has undergone several rounds of restyling. For the latest version, he designed and cut an acrylic case that stacked all of its hardware components in an arrangement roughly the size of a Rubik’s cube.

It was impressive “to see what a high school student could do using available technology and Google,” said Chung, who moderated the oral session as he presented her work.

In the future, he hopes to expand the earthquake monitoring system to include multiple devices that communicate with each other and provide alerts over a larger area. It also wants to apply machine learning algorithms to make sure its system recognizes real earthquakes. Additionally, he started a non-profit organization, Melior Earth, to address a range of environmental issues, including natural disaster prevention. It hopes to distribute its devices to areas badly affected by earthquakes.

Overall, she hopes to share her new passion for earth sciences. He said, “It was really exciting for me.” “I think a lot of other people would be really interested in it, to see live charts and understand how we detect earthquakes.”

—Jack Lee (jackjlee), science writer

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