Earthquakes occurring around the world will soon be detected from the fields of the Northeast. This summer, geologists from the University of New Hampshire will scour New Hampshire, Maine, and northern Vermont for the most precise land areas to place EarthScope’s earthquake seismometers.

UNH graduate students Evangelos Korkolis and Ian Honsberger, with help from assistant professor of Earth sciences Margaret Boettcher, are seeking locations for seismometers every 70 kilometers—about 40 miles—throughout the Northeast.

“I’m interested in the local earthquakes around here, and I think another benefit is that this project lets us interact with the public,” said Boettcher. “It’s an opportunity that helps us educate people throughout New England.”

EarthScope is a project funded by the National Science Foundation that aims to gain a better understanding of the structure of the North American continent and the layers of the inner Earth. EarthScope contacted Boettcher, a seismologist, in hopes she would help them find appropriate locations for their seismometers.

“EarthScope, itself, will place the seismometers next summer,” said Boettcher. “We are just putting a stake in the ground for where they will place the seismometers. We started in late May and will continue through July.”

Korkolis and Honsberger are doing the bulk of the fieldwork, starting in southern New Hampshire.

From there they will move toward Vermont, then finish in the state of Maine.
Seismometers are placed about eight feet deep in the ground to measure seismic waves sent out by earthquakes from as far away as Indonesia, Boettcher said. A block of mass attached to a spring records movement within the Earth, allowing seismologists to map out the interior of the planet, and to locate and measure the size of earthquakes. Seismometers are highly sensitive to noise, so they must be placed in a quiet, remote environment.

“Somewhere that is far away from the road and the noise from traffic,” said Boettcher. “Also, distant from trees, because the swaying can create low frequencies and disrupt the seismometer. We basically look for a big field.”

Since the seismometers are solar powered, there needs to be adequate space to fit solar panels and enough sediment to keep the seismometer within a constant temperature and away from thermal changes. Boettcher and her team look for privately owned pieces of land where it’s easier to obtain permits. The landowners usually seem excited to get involved, Boettcher said.

EarthScope has already begun placing seismometers all over the United States, starting on the West Coast. With the use of heavy machinery, EarthScope can place a seismometer in the ground within a few hours. The instruments will stay in place for the next two years.

The project comes at the end of a decade-long effort to map out the structure of the Earth’s interior using seismometers. So far, more than 400 of the instruments have been deployed nationally.