From the sci.geo.earthquake newsgroup, Larry

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News Release
U.S. Geological Survey
November 29, 1999
Contact: Pat Jorgenson, pjorgenson@........


News Release
U.S. Geological Survey
November 29, 1999
Contact: Pat Jorgenson, pjorgenson@........


POINT, CLICK, AND BECOME A SEISMOSITTER

In an effort to learn more about which parts of San Francisco and Oakland
are likely to receive the most damage in the next big earthquake, Dr. Alan
Lindh and his colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey are looking for a
few good backyards. Seventy of them, to be exact. And when they find them,
via the Internet, Lindh and his assistants will install in each of those
backyards a portable instrument that will record all earth movements at the
site for the next six months.

Residents and commercial establishments who would like to become partners
with the USGS in the earthquake-monitoring project can learn more about it
and volunteer their property by going to . They
should log on as soon as possible, as Lindh and his team would like to get
the seismometer network installed before the end of 1999.

The Web site includes information about the current study as well as the
USGS' previous research on earthquake activity in the San Jose area.
Residents who are willing to have a seismometer placed on their property
can complete and submit a volunteer form, via the Web, and Web site
visitors can view maps that highlight information about the study, and can
go to related earthquake sites to obtain more information about earthquakes
and what they can do to prepare for them. The USGS plans to collect all the
data it needs by September 2000. Lindh and others will spend the subsequent
year analyzing the data, and will publish the results on the Web by
September 2001.

Installing a seismometer in a backyard will involve digging a small hole
and inserting the instrument. Ideally, the backyard would be fenced to
discourage "tinkering" by unauthorized persons, but would not be guarded by
an unfriendly dog, as USGS technicians will need to visit the site about
once a week to retrieve the data. The use of a nearby electrical outlet
will be necessary.

The San Francisco/Oakland monitoring project is patterned after the
backyard seismometer network established by Lindh in San Jose in 1998.
During that project, 40 seismometers were placed in backyards in San Jose
and adjacent areas for three months. Data gleaned from the new project will
be used for several scientific purposes, including building a better
computer model of the Bay Area for modeling strong ground motion and
estimating the site-amplification effects.

"The main thrust of this is to get a better handle on the structure of the
rocks below the city," Lindh said. "By putting seismometers on basically
every unit, we'll be able to build a three-dimensional model of what the
earth looks like underneath San Francisco and Oakland, and that will help
computer modelers build better models of the shaking that will occur during
a major earthquake."

The results of the study will be used to predict which parts of the cities,
based on the makeup of the earth beneath them, are likely to receive the
most damage during the next sizeable earthquake, which has a two-thirds
chance of happening within the next 30 years, according to Lindh.
"Homeowners will be able to use the information to renovate their homes,
and planning officials will be able to construct buildings, bridges, and
transportation and utility infrastructures that are more resistant to
earthquakes. Over the long-run, it will influence the way buildings are
constructed," Lindh said. "It may take five to 10 years, but eventually it
will end up as part of the building codes and the planning regulations."

For the Internet and computer support of the project, the USGS has
established a partnership with Microsoft and Carta Inc. Microsoft has
agreed to donate software, while its Web development partner, Carta Inc.,
has agreed to build and maintain the site.


As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian
mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2000
organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific
information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This
information is gathered in every state  by USGS scientists to minimize the
loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the
conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the
nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by
monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.

                ***USGS***

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