The NSL has monitored the seismicity around Yucca Mountain since 1992, but monitoring actually began under the US Geological Survey in 1978. At present, we operate a very sensitive network of 30 stations within 50 km of Yucca Mountain. This network "sees" 10-15 earthquakes per day, with roughly only 5 per day being locatable. Most of these earthquakes are extremely small, near magnitude 0 on the Richter scale. The NSL reports regularly to the DOE on this seismic activity and deploys additional instruments in the case of interesting earthquakes (M > 4 say). The NSL role is to quantify the seismic activity in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain and provide this information to the DOE in order that they may use it in modern, seismic, risk-based design of the repository facilities. The NSL also performs research into the accuracy of the ground-motion predictions for seismic design and into the nature and causes of the earthquake activity at Yucca Mountain.
For further information on the NSL monitoring, see:
- Where is Yucca Mountain?
- FAQ on Earthquakes and Yucca Mountain
- Seismic Monitoring of Yucca Mountain
- The Nevada Broadcast of Earthquakes for Yucca Mountain
- Map showing all earthquakes located in one year near Yucca Mountain
- June 14, 2002 ML = 4.4 Earthquake at Little Skull Mountain, southern Nevada
For further information on Yucca Mountain in general, visit the Yucca Mountain Project web site.
