[Geology2] U.S., Mexico Join in Quake Sensor Project

U.S., Mexico join in quake sensor project

By Pat Brennan, O.C. Register science, environment editor

October 19th, 2011, 5:19 pm

The United States is teaming up with Mexico's emergency authorities to install new sensors south of the border that should help both nations better anticipate the effects of large earthquakes.

The seismic sensors will include instruments that measure earthquake intensity; the lack of such data delayed Mexico's ability to assess the effects of the April 4, 2010 quake in Baja, California, that reached magnitude 7.2, caused extensive damage to the border region and jolted Southern California, including Orange County.

"We were not able to know how strong the earthquake was," Roberto Quaas Weppen, director general of the Mexican National Center for Disaster Prevention, in a press conference Wednesday announcing the project. "We relied completely on information we got from the (U.S Geological Survey), but we were not able to take proper and timely decisions at the beginning of the earthquake."

Knowing quake intensity is critical to estimating damage and deciding where to send emergency vehicles and crews, he said.

A $500,000 contribution from the U.S. Northern Command and the U.S Geological Survey will be used to deploy 10 to 15 new sensors along the northern Baja region, including in Mexicali and Tijuana.

The project also will include training, along with improved communication links and computer telemetry, another stumbling block for Mexican authorities during last year's quake.

"Earthquakes have no borders," said Robert Mackay of the Interagency Coordination Directorate, Human Assistance Branch of the U.S. Northern Command. "We have common faults along that area. Hopefully, this network will contribute to saving lives and property."

It is part of a larger effort to improve earthquake monitoring throughout Mexico that will cost the Mexican government the equivalent of $50 million in U.S. dollars; part of that will be spent on the joint project with the United States in northwestern Mexico, although how much was unknown Wednesday.

The project should be completed and operating by next year.

Source: http://sciencedude.ocregister.com/2011/10/19/u-s-mexico-join-in-quake-sensor-project/148343/

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