Seahawks Fans Test Earthquake Early Warning System

When the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers to reach the Super Bowl, Seattle fans exploded in celebration. The excitement was so strong and so real that it became tangible. And when it did, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) was on hand to quantify it. Since 2011, when Seattle fans first tripped their seismic sensors, the PNSN has been monitoring the ground vibrations caused by crowd activity at CenturyLink Field.  This year, they placed new sensors in the stadium itself to test new technologies that will track earthquakes and disseminate seismic information to the public and authorities in the event of a real earthquake. Their new tool, dubbed "QuickShake," displays vibration data from CenturyLink Field in real-time on their website.  There is a three-second delay between the detection of the vibrations and when users were able to see them on the QuickShake tool.  To put that in perspective, the time delay in live broadcasts of football games is 10 seconds.  If you were watching the feed on QuickShake tool, you would have known when the crowds got to their feet before you actually saw it happen on your TV.  You can check out the recaps of the PNSN's seismic coverage on their blog. The PNSN is headquartered at the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington.  It is a joint collaboration between the University of Washington and the University of Oregon to monitor volcanic activity and seismic movement throughout the Pacific Northwest.