Thunderstorms produce seismic signals that map shallow crust
A Penn State team built a seismic model to interpret thunder-induced 'thunderquake' signals and tested it using two years of data from a 4 kilometer fiber-optic sensing line under campus. They ran simulations with SPECFEM3D Cartesian despite atmospheric and mesh approximations, then matched real signals from 458 confirmed thunderquakes. The analysis identified four shallow weak zones, which the team validated with radar, boreholes, engineering surveys, and independent seismic data. The results suggest thunderquake signals can be a frequent, informative source for mapping near-surface geology relevant to infrastructure and geohazard studies.
Thunderquake signals can map near-surface weak zones using fiber optics.
Context
Seismic waves are used to image the Earth's interior. Penn State researchers built and tested a model for thunder-induced seismic signals. They validated the model on campus and may extend it to other areas with storms.
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