THE FUTURE OF EARTHQUAKE MONITORING FOR HAZARD MITIGATION IN THE PacNW
More sensors are being installed to improve the speed and accuracy of monitoring, with hundreds of new strong motion and geodetic instruments proposed in the coming years. Recording slow (minutes to hours to days) using geodetic instruments as well as fast (seconds) ground deformation using seismic instruments will allow us to monitor a wider range of hazards, including newly discovered slow earthquakes or landslides, and improve our volcano monitoring capabilities.
Seismic waves only spread at a rate of a few km/sec, so sensors close to the fault rupture provide extra seconds of potential warning to communities at a further distance, as well as more accurate earthquake characterization. Sufficiently rapid data collection and analysis will allow seconds to minutes of warning before the strongest shaking strikes. Such systems are in place in several other countries and being tested now in California. This capability will be possible in the near future in the Pacific Northwest.