IMMG Earthquake Tracking

We are proud to announce that the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology has a seismic station to track earthquakes around the world!

The station consists of a long-period, horizontal pendulum sensor capable of sensing and recording seismic events depending on their magnitude and other environmental conditions.  The sensor has recorded earthquakes as close as 150 miles and as far away as about 9,000 miles.

A bulletin board near the station will display interesting facts about earthquakes, and the station desk has a computer and monitor where the real-time helicorder (earthquake signal traces) can be viewed.  A log book on the desk contains printed copies of the earthquakes and maps showing where in the world they occurred.

The earthquakes recorded at our station are posted at:
www.seismicnet.com/cgi-dos/event.exe

This website is the worldwide Public Seismic Network, where our earthquake events are posted along with events recorded by other seismic stations in the network. 

Each event will have two files associated with it—a .psn data file, which requires seismic software to open, and a .GIF file, which you don’t need any special software to open and view.  So to view the earthquake signals, click on the words “.GIF IMAGE” on the right-hand side of the station name you want to view.  The IMMG station name is “IMMG Boise Idaho”.  The postings from our station are for all to use and enjoy.

Below is a printout of a magnitude 5.7 earthquake in southeastern Alaska recorded on January 9, 2007.  The P (primary) and S (secondary) waves are marked.

We encourage you to visit the Museum and see the station in action.  Perhaps you can catch an earthquake in the process of being recorded!