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Zhenming Wang

“The network exists primarily to monitor earthquake activity in Kentucky. But, secondly, because of the amount of mining activity in Kentucky, the network also helps us to differentiate between real earthquakes and mine blasts.”

-- Zhenming Wang,
geologist,
KGS Geologic Hazards Section

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 14, 2005) -- Spread across Kentucky from the New Madrid Bend of the Mississippi River to Grayson in Carter County, a network of 18 instruments operated by the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) at the University of Kentucky monitors earthquake activity in the region.

Ten of those stations form a seismic network capable of monitoring any Kentucky earthquake with a magnitude larger than 2.0 on the Richter scale, as well as major earthquakes in the central United States.

In fact, they can also record seismic waves from very large earthquakes around the world. The huge Dec. 26 temblor in the Indian Ocean, registering 9.0 magnitude, was recorded on these instruments. That underwater tremor caused catastrophic tsunamis in a number of countries around the Indian Ocean Basin. The seismic waves reached the Kentucky instruments about 20 minutes after the earthquake happened.

“The network exists primarily to monitor earthquake activity in Kentucky,” said Zhenming Wang, geologist with the KGS Geologic Hazards Section. “But, secondly, because of the amount of mining activity in Kentucky, the network also helps us to differentiate between real earthquakes and mine blasts.”

Wang and his staff can analyze the instruments’ recordings to determine whether the events are seismic or human-caused.

To see more about the recordings of the Dec. 26 event, visit the Web site.