THE AS1: AN EXCELLENT INEXPENSIVE SEISMOGRAPH FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH

The AS1 is an inexpensive ($600) seismograph capable of detecting earthquakes of magnitude greater than five from around the world. The seismograph is simple to install and makes the detection of earthquakes available to elementary and secondary schools and colleges. The best location of the seismometer is on a concrete floor in the basement however it can be installed on display so students see its operation. The AS1 seismometer uses AmaSeis software, which allows real time recording of seismic events and simplifies data analysis. The AmaSeis software also stores the earthquake so it can be extracted and studied at a later time. The seismometer can also detect local earthquakes and quarry blasts.

The instrument is excellent for teaching how seismographs work and the purpose of damping and magnification. The assembling of the instrument is a lesson in the detection of earthquakes. The AmaSeis software enables the determination of distance to the quake and its magnitude. The instrument is very effective in teaching seismology and research. P and S wave arrival times, distance, origin time and magnitude of the earthquake can be determined. Exercises can be written that enable students to identify the phases of the earthquakes. The earthquakes may be stored on a CD to create a data bank, which includes distant and local quakes. Several seismograms of earthquakes recorded by the AS1 will be displayed and lessons showing how the seismograms are used to identify phases, calculate magnitude, distance, and a former transform of the earthquake.