USGS: EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM, ANSS

Earthquake Early Warning System

Under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, popularly known as the Stafford Act(P.L. 92–288), the USGS has the Federal responsibility to issue alerts for earthquakes, to enhance public safety, and to reduce losses through effective forecasts and warnings. USGS currently issues rapid, automatic earthquake information via the Internet, email, text messages, and social media.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/earlywarning/

ANSS - Advanced National Seismic System

Mission

The mission of ANSS is to provide accurate and timely data and information products for seismic events, including their effects on buildings and structures, employing modern monitoring methods and technologies.

This mission serves a basic function of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) , and drives the four basic goals of the planned system:

Establish and maintain an advanced infrastructure for seismic monitoring throughout the United States that operates with high performance standards, gathers critical technical data, and effectively provides information products and services to meet the Nation's needs. An Advanced National Seismic System should consist of modern seismographs, communication networks, data processing centers, and well-trained personnel; such an integrated system would constantly record and analyze seismic data and provide timely and reliable information on earthquakes and other seismic disturbances.

Continuously monitor earthquakes and other seismic disturbances throughout the UnitedStates, including earthquakes that may cause a tsunami or precede a volcanic eruption, with special focus on regions of moderate to high hazard and risk.

Thoroughly measure strong earthquake shaking at ground sites and in buildings and critical structures. Focus should be in urban areas and near major active fault zones to gather greatly needed data and information for reducing earthquake impacts on buildings and structures.

Automatically broadcast information when a significant earthquake occurs, for immediate assessment of its impact. Where feasible, for sites at distance from the epicenter, broadcast an early warning seconds before strong shaking arrives. Provide similar capabilities for automated warning and alert for tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

To achieve these goals, ANSS will establish nationwide network of over 7000 earthquake sensor systems, serving all areas of the country subject to earthquake hazards and providing dense coverage in 26 at-risk urban areas (see map). Sensors will be located both in the ground and in buildings and other structures.

The system will provide real-time earthquake information for emergency response personnel, provide engineers with information about building and site response to strong shaking, and provide scientists with high-quality data needed to understand earthquake processes and structure and dynamics of the solid earth.

Monitoring Activities

As part of its monitoring activities, the ANSS includes a national Backbone network, the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC), the National Strong Motion Project, and 15 regional seismic networks operated by USGS and its partners. When earthquakes strike, ANSS delivers real-time information, providing situational awareness for emergency-response personnel. In regions with sufficient seismic stations, that information includes–within minutes–a ShakeMap showing the distribution of potentially damaging ground shaking, information used to target post-earthquake response efforts. When fully implemented, ANSS will provide such dense station coverage for all at-risk urban areas. Information from ANSS is a key input to the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps, which help communities in earthquake-prone regions develop safer building practices.

Network Codes

The following network codes are assigned by the FDSN archive (IRIS DMC) to provide uniqueness to seismological data streams. This is the complete list of seismic networks that are active in the United States:

Network Code Network Name Operated by

AE Arizona Broadband Seismic Network Arizona Geological Survey

AG Arkansas Seismic Network Arkansas Geological Survey

AK Alaska Regional Network University of Alaska-Fairbanks

AO Arkansas Seismic Observatory University of Arkansas at Little Rock

AR Northern Arizona Network Arizona Earthquake Information Center

AT Alaska Tsunami Warning Seismic System West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

AV Alaska Volcano Observatory USGS - Anchorage, University of Alaska, Geophysical Institute

AZ ANZA Regional Network University of California, San Diego - USGS Menlo Park

BK Berkeley Digital Seismic Network (BDSN) University of California, Berkeley

CC Cascade Chain Volcano Monitoring USGS/Cascade Volcano Observatory

CE California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program California Geological Survey (formerly California Division of Mines and Geology) - Earthquake Engineering

CG Coso Microearthquake Network Geothermal Program Office, US Navy, China Lake

CI * Southern California Seismic Network California Institute of Technology / USGS - Pasadena

CO South Carolina Seismic Network University of South Carolina at Columbia

CU CariUSGS Caribbean Network USGS, Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory

EP UTEP Seismic Network University of Texas, El Paso

ET CERI Southern Appalachian Seismic Network University of Memphis

HV Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Network Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

HW Hanford Washington Seismic Network Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

IE Idaho National Engineering Laboratory University of Utah, Network Contact

II IRIS/IDA Network University of California, Scripps Institute of Oceanography

IU IRIS/USGS Network USGS Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory

IW Intermountain West Seismic Network United States Geological Survey

KY Kentucky Seismic and Strong Motion Network Kentucky Geological Survey

LB Leo Brady Network Sandia National Laboratory

LD Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University

MB Montana Regional Seismic Network Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology

NC USGS Northern California Regional Network USGS-Menlo Park, California

NE Northeastern United States Networks Boston College

NM Cooperative New Madrid Seismic Network St. Louis University and University of Memphis

NN Western Great Basin/Eastern Sierra Nevada University of Nevada, Reno

NP United States National Strong-Motion Network USGS - National Strong-Motion Program

NQ NetQuakes USGS Menlo Park, California

OH Ohio Seismic Network Ohio Geological Survey

OK Oklahoma Seismic Network University of Oklahoma

PE Penn State Network Penn State University

PG PG & E, Diablo Canyon Pacific Gas and Electric

PR Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) & Puerto Rico Strong Motion Program (PRSMP) University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

PT Pacific Tsunami Warning Seismic System, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Ewa Beach, Hawaii

RE US Bureau of Reclamation Seismic Networks US Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center

SC New Mexico Tech Seismic Network New Mexico Tech, Socorro, New Mexico

SE Southeastern Appalachian Cooperative Seismic Network Virginia Tech, University of Memphis, Tennessee Valley Authority, and University of North Carolina

SF San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) Stanford University and USGS Menlo Park, Earthscope Project

UO University of Oregon Regional Network University of Oregon

US US National Seismic Network ANSS Backbone of the USGS-NEIC and USGS-ASL and Earthscope Project of IRIS

UU University of Utah Regional Network University of Utah Seismograph Stations

UW Pacific Northwest Regional Seismic Network University of Washington

WR California Division of Water Resources California Division of Water Resources

WY Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Seismic Network University of Utah Seismograph Stations (formerly operated by the USGS Menlo Park)

* (beginning 9/1997 some stations from network code TS now appear as network code CI)

 http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/anss/

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