About Us
Caltech's Seismological Laboratory, an arm of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS), was established in 1921. It has a distinguished history of leadership in science and serving the public interest. Internationally recognized for excellence in geophysical research and academics while also having outstanding facilities in seismic networks, high performance computing, and mineral physics, makes the Seismo Lab an ideal place for study and research. The Lab serves as a focal point for earthquake information in Southern California and the world.
Spotlight
The Salton Seismic Imaging Project
The Salton Seismic Imaging Project is a large-scale active seismic survey that will take place in Feb. 2011 to study earthquake hazards and rifting processes in southeastern California (Imperial and Coachella Valleys) and northwestern Mexico (Mexicali Valley). These valleys are formed by right-lateral strike-slip faulting, extension, and magmatic intrusion between the Pacific plate (on the west) and the North America plate (on the east). Because the southern San Andreas fault ends in this region, its slip is transferred to a number of other active faults that bound the mountain ranges and valleys, and extend under water into the Gulf of California. The project will create images of subsurface geology to investigate the different plate tectonic processes and the earthquake hazards they cause. We will image the deep structures in the basins and the geometry and interconnectivity of the active faults. The images will determine the subsurface geometry of the southern San Andreas fault, and the thickness and physical properties of the basin sediments - all of which are critical in order to simulate the expected shaking from a major earthquake. The survey will involve about 3000 seismometers deployed for 3 weeks, and a set of sound waves generated from boreholes a few hundred feet below the surface. Learn more
Community Seismic Network
We are developing a new earthquake monitoring (seismic network) system, Community Seismic Network (CSN) based on a dense array of low-cost sensors. The goal of the system is to produce block-by-block estimates of strong ground shaking. The information from these sensors will be sent to central computers that will process the data and produce localized estimates of ground shaking on a block-by-block basis - essentially, motions of the evolving seismic wave field during local earthquakes. This information will guide emergency responders and promises to lead to a new level of understanding of the physics of earthquakes and their impact on Southern California. The development of the new network is partially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Read more
