15 August 2000
In addition, the Laboratory carries out research nationally and worldwide through Federal funding. Our research activities contribute to the understanding not only of earthquake hazard, but also of natural resource occurrence, environmental hazards and waste containment, geothermal energy, water resources, and international efforts to monitor underground nuclear explosions. Our academic and research staff are recognized worldwide.
The Seismological Laboratory plays an important role in graduate education. We provide graduate training in seismology and seismic hazard. In recent years nine Ph.D. and eight M.S. students have graduated from our program. These students and their research contribute to the activities of the UNR Geological Sciences Department, especially to studies of tectonics and earth structure.
Governance and resources- The Seismological Laboratory is directed by Professor John G. Anderson, on behalf of the UNR President and the Dean of the Mackay School of Mines. Professional staff members in the Seismological Laboratory are Professor James N. Brune, Research and Design Engineer Walter Nicks, Associate Professor John N. Louie, Associate Research Professor Yuehua Zeng, Associate Research Professors Glenn Biasi and Rasool Anooshehpoor, Assistant Research Professor Feng Su, Network Operations Director Ken Smith, Seismic Network Manager David Von Seggern, and Network Seismologist Diane dePolo.
The accompanying document describes in detail earthquake notification projects that are underway in some capacity, and other proposed projects that address the dissemination of information following large earthquakes. We request here a portion of the support needed to complete many of these projects. Support from the Union Pacific Foundation would, we believe, minimize the impact of such earthquakes to the public, and assist emergency management authorities in their response. The Union Pacific Foundation can help the peoples of Nevada and eastern California receive more timely and accurate earthquake notification, that could potentially save lives in a disaster situation.
Of the many funding needs detailed on the accompanying project description "P1. Implement Notification and Reporting of Significant Earthquakes," we request here that the Union Pacific Foundation provide the following for the April 2000 through March 2001 period:
In addition, we request:
Supplemental Network maintenance support, for existing stations: (of $15,000 total) $5,000 Paging and remote communications support for NSL personnel: $1,000 Travel for semi-annual briefings, phone costs of consultations, meetings with facility operators: $1,000
The total request for this period is $10,000.
Student webmaster wages for maintenance and improvements to NSL website www.seismo.unr.edu (300 hours @ $10/hr) $3,000
Demand for the NSL's prototype rapid earthquake information services in Nevada and eastern California is very high and rising, as evidenced by two measures. First, over the last year the number of "hits" per week at our website has always exceeded 60,000, with a high of 158,450 hits for the week following Oct. 25, 1998, when there was a strongly felt earthquake at Lake Tahoe. Second, our website always receives dozens of felt reports from interested citizens immediately after a significant earthquake in our area. Thirty-nine felt report forms were filled out and transmitted within 24 hours of the Aug. 1, 1999 M5.7 Scottys Junction earthquake. Many of the reports came from the small and isolated communities of Goldfield, Tonopah, Amargosa Valley, and Beatty. Aside from contributing valuable data to our research on the effects of Nevada events, these reports show the widespread public interest in our services.
Our response to the Scottys Junction earthquake also pointed out where the NSL badly needs to make improvements in its earthquake notification services. Our Nevada Broadcast of Earthquakes (NBE) was not able to locate events in the Scottys Junction sequence very well, due to poor seismic-station coverage of the source area, and aging data-logging technology. Only after examination by a trained analyst was each event's location corrected. Although few events in the sequence escaped detection, the M5.7 main shock was not reported automatically. It was caught between flurries of foreshocks and aftershocks that saturated our older seismic stations. The accompanying project description shows how we will make improvements in seismic stations and data-logging and analysis technology to improve our notification accuracy.
With the explosion in modern computer technology, this is an exciting time in the highly technical environment of operating seismic networks. Recent funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the W. M. Keck Foundation has provided some of the much-needed equipment upgrades to field stations. The quality of data and our ability to quickly indentify and report on significant earthquakes has never been better. Unfortunately, in the current climate of funding, support for the network operations staff necessary to develop, maintain and manage the increased data flow has not been available from federal or state agencies. The proposed contribution from the Union Pacific Foundation can directly help the NSL overcome these short-falls.
During the proposed project period we will continue to measure public access to our rapid earthquake information services. As well, we will continue to collect statistics on the performance and accuracy of our notifications. Through the Nevada Seismic Research Affiliates, we will be seeking public, private, and contract funds for support of the entire project. Further funding will continue to leverage the Union Pacific Foundations contributions, helping to protect and inform the public in this earthquake-prone region.