QUAKE CATCHER NETWORK IN CALGARY: TESTING THE LIMITS OF VOLUNTEER HOSTED SEISMIC NETWORKS

Cities and their residents are often at a high risk from natural disasters due to location, complex infrastructure, and density, as well as a general lack of active involvement and proper understanding of the natural disasters that might affect them. By developing an extensive distributed volunteer-hosted computing network within cities, valuable geological, climatic, and other data may be collected at a low cost, while also engaging and educating citizens. The Quake Catcher Network (QCN), a citizen scientist program out of the University of Southern California, San Diego, is a distributed computing network which enlists the public to collect seismic data, while improving their understanding of it.

While seismic research, including that of the QCN, has mostly been concentrated on the cities and regions most at risk from earthquake disasters, this study discusses the results of a network constructed within the western Canadian City of Calgary, a geologically stable region where medium to strong earthquakes do not occur. MEMS seismometers were first installed in high schools and other educational institutions within the Calgary region to serve as a stable foundation to the network. By locating these sensors in education hubs, k-12 students became involved in their installation and maintenance as a way of education and empowerment.

This Quake Catcher Network across Calgary will be very useful for engaging the local community in the new Canadian Cordillera Array research initiative.