Title
Global quieting of high-frequency seismic noise due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures
Date Issued
11 September 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Lecocq T.
Hicks S.P.
van Noten K.
van Wijk K.
Koelemeijer P.
de Plaen R.S.M.
Massin F.
Hillers G.
Anthony R.E.
Apoloner M.T.
Arroyo-Solórzano M.
Assink J.D.
Büyükakpınar P.
Cannata A.
Cannavo F.
Carrasco S.
Caudron C.
Chaves E.J.
Cornwell D.G.
Craig D.
den Ouden O.F.C.
Diaz J.
Donner S.
Evangelidis C.P.
Evers L.
Fauville B.
Fernandez G.A.
Giannopoulos D.
Gibbons S.J.
Girona T.
Grecu B.
Grunberg M.
Hetényi G.
Horleston A.
Irving J.C.E.
Jamalreyhani M.
Kafka A.
Koymans M.R.
Labedz C.R.
Larose E.
Lindsey N.J.
McKinnon M.
Megies T.
Miller M.S.
Minarik W.
Moresi L.
Márquez-Ramírez V.H.
Möllhoff M.
Nesbitt I.M.
Niyogi S.
Ojeda J.
Oth A.
Proud S.
Pulli J.
Retailleau L.
Rintamäki A.E.
Satriano C.
Savage M.K.
Shani-Kadmiel S.
Sleeman R.
Sokos E.
Stammler K.
Stott A.E.
Subedi S.
Sørensen M.B.
Taira T.
Tapia M.
Turhan F.
van der Pluijm B.
Vanstone M.
Vergne J.
Vuorinen T.A.T.
Warren T.
Wassermann J.
Xiao H.
Publisher(s)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Abstract
Human activity causes vibrations that propagate into the ground as high-frequency seismic waves. Measures to mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused widespread changes in human activity, leading to a months-long reduction in seismic noise of up to 50%. The 2020 seismic noise quiet period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record. Although the reduction is strongest at surface seismometers in populated areas, this seismic quiescence extends for many kilometers radially and hundreds of meters in depth. This quiet period provides an opportunity to detect subtle signals from subsurface seismic sources that would have been concealed in noisier times and to benchmark sources of anthropogenic noise. A strong correlation between seismic noise and independent measurements of human mobility suggests that seismology provides an absolute, real-time estimate of human activities.
Start page
1338
End page
1343
Volume
369
Issue
6509
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Epidemiología
Enfermedades infecciosas
Enfermedades infecciosas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85090870227
PubMed ID
Source
Science
ISSN of the container
00368075
Sponsor(s)
We sincerely thank two anonymous reviewers, T. Nissen-Meyer, and J. Slate for their comments, which have improved the manuscript. We are extremely grateful to all seismic network managers, operators, and technicians who have helped facilitate the raw global seismic dataset (24). We also kindly acknowledge all of the passionate community seismologists for running their “home” seismometers and contributing, indirectly, to a better understanding of Earth. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government. We dedicate this community-led study to all essential workers who have kept our countries going during these difficult times. Funding: P.K. was funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF\R1\180377). P.B. and M.J. acknowledge support from the International Training Course “Seismology and Seismic Hazard Assessment” funded by the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ) and the German Federal Foreign Office through the German Humanitarian Assistance program (grant S08-60 321.50 ALL 03/19). P.B. also acknowledges financial support from the Boğaziçi University Research Fund (BAP 15683). O.F.C.d.O acknowledges funding from a Young Investigator Grant from the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP project RGY0072/2017). C.P.E. and E.S. acknowledge funding from the HELPOS Project “Hellenic Plate Observing System” (MIS 5002697). L.E. and S.S.-K. acknowledge funding from a VIDI project from the Dutch Research Council (NWO project 864.14.005). G.A.F. acknowledges contributions from the Observatorio San Calixto, which is supported by the Air Force Technical Application Center (AFTAC). C.R.L. acknowledges funding from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (grant DGE‐1745301). V.-H.M. and R.D.P. acknowledge support from grant CONACYT-299766. R.D.P. acknowledges support from the UNAM-DGAPA postdoctoral scholarship. J.O. acknowledges support from the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Scholarship ANID-PFCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2020-21200903). S.P. acknowledges financial support from the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R013144/1). A.E.R. acknowledges support from the K.H. Renlund foundation. M.K.S. acknowledges the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC project 20796). H.X. acknowledges support from a Multidisciplinary Research on the Coronavirus and its Impacts (MRCI) grant from UC Santa Barbara. The Australian Seismometers in Schools data used in this research are supported by AuScope, enabled by the Australian Commonwealth NCRIS program. A.O. acknowledges support from the project RESIST, funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy (contract SR/00/305) and the Luxembourg National Research Fund.
Sources of information:
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Scopus