Research is from the Royal Observatory of Belgium and five more institutions
Quarantines around the world to contain the spread of covid-19 have led to the longest reduction in the history of seismic vibrations linked to human activities, improving the ability of scientists to capture Earth’s natural signals and detect earthquakes, a study released in this report revealed. Thursday (23).
Vibrations travel across the planet like waves, creating seismic noise from earthquakes, volcanoes, winds and rivers, in addition to human activities such as travel and industry.
In the study, published in the scientific journal Science and carried out through international networks of seismographs, scientists found that terrestrial vibrations linked to humans decreased by an average of 50% between March and May this year.
“The 2020 seismic noise pause period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record,” the researchers wrote. The work was developed by the Royal Observatory of Belgium and five other institutions, using data from 268 monitoring stations in 117 countries.
Beginning in China in late January, and followed by Europe and the rest of the world from March to April, researchers saw “a calming wave” as isolation measures were taken to slow the pandemic.
Travel and tourism were virtually suspended, millions of schools and industries closed and many people were confined to their homes.
The greatest reductions in human-induced vibrations have been seen in densely populated areas, such as Singapore and New York City, but have also been seen in areas such as the Black Forest of Germany and Rundu in Namibia.
