OTTUMWA — Scientists are hoping a new set of listening posts will help them keep tabs on the earth, possibly giving new insights into why and when it will move.
The EarthScope program started with more than 400 stations in the western United States. Scientists plan to place 40 more in Missouri and southern Iowa. One of those, designated site N39A, will be in Wapello or Davis County.
Iowa is not one of the more active sites for seismologists. It lacks volcanoes or major fault lines, but it does experience occasional tremors. One shook Ottumwa in April 2008, though the epicenter was in southeastern Illinois.
And while most people think of California or Alaska when they think of earthquakes, Missouri experienced some of the most violent shaking ever when the New Madrid Fault unleashed a swarm of quakes in the early 1800s.
That series of quakes reportedly rang bells as far east as Philadelphia. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quakes did damage to locations as far away as Charleston, S.C. Scientists worry about the impact on St. Louis and Memphis, as well as scores of smaller communities, should similar quakes happen now.
Dr. Stephen Gao is leading the effort in this area, overseeing the federal project from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The school is located in Rolla, Mo.
Gao and his team are looking for landowners in the area who would be willing to host a recording station. The stations are dug into the ground and use solar power to keep instruments running and communicating with the researchers.
Each station will remain in place for 18-24 months. The project will move eastward over the next couple years and the stations will eventually move with them.
Gao and his team do not plan to place the stations this year. They will go in over the course of the next two years. But they are working now to find suitable locations for them and they hope publicity about the project will help draw interest.
The Missouri-Iowa sites have their own Web site at http://web.mst.edu/~sgao/USArray/. It includes information about where the team hopes to locate the stations and offers the opportunity to suggest a site.
People who think their property might fit the team’s needs can also e-mail Gao directly at sgao@mst.edu.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
Local News
Related Photos
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The highlighted area inside the circle is where researchers are trying to place a set of sensors to monitor earthquakes. The team hopes the array, part of a much larger network, will help them understand why earthquakes strike. Courier graphic by Matt Milner
EarthScope coming to southern Iowa
Stations aim to give new insights into earthquakes
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