Here's how scientists are using one of the world's fastest computers to better understand earthquake impacts – KCRA Sacramento
Two major projects are currently running at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Nevada Reno. Both aim to simulate earthquakes so that researchers can observe the structural impacts of the shockwaves they produce.
Two major projects are currently running at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Nevada Reno. Both aim to simulate earthquakes so that researchers can observe the structural impacts of the shockwaves they produce.
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Two major projects are currently running at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Nevada Reno. Both aim to simulate earthquakes so that researchers can observe the structural impacts of the shockwaves they produce.
Close to 500,000 earthquakes are detected around the world every year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Despite how often they occur, there is a lot that scientists don’t yet understand about how the shockwaves produced by earthquakes travel and affect areas surrounding the epicenter.
Two major projects are being run simultaneously at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Nevada Reno to help change that.
David McCallen is one of the lead scientists on these projects.
The first project is called the Soil Box Project. It involves a large indoor structure designed to mimic the interaction between the earth’s surface and some type of building.
This contraption is part of a project at @unevadareno & @BerkeleyLab designed to help scientists understand how earthquakes affect different structures.
At 4 & 6 on @kcranews, how this & one of the world's fastest supercomputers can improve earthquake models.
đź“ĽDavid McCallen pic.twitter.com/fKdhEEwHKv
“The purpose of that project is to be able to create earthquakes in the laboratory,” McCallen said.
To do that, the Soil Box is shaken at a specific magnitude, and a set of instruments monitors how the resulting energy waves move through the soil box and the structure sitting on top.
The ability to take those real-time observations in a controlled laboratory environment is huge.
“It’s very, very difficult to get data in the field about earthquake response,” McCallen said.
That difficulty has a lot to do with how unpredictable earthquakes are. McCallen says that, in general, it’s possible to determine the likelihood of an impactful earthquake along a particular fault line just by examining long-term cycles. But predicting exactly where, when and how strong an earthquake will be is impossible.
So, McCallen and a team of other scientists are working on the next best thing: predicting the various outcomes of earthquakes for the communities most at risk for damage.
“In that, we are using literally the world’s biggest computers and the most advanced computers to model, on a regional basis, the effects of earthquakes,” McCallen said.
These computer models trigger a hypothetical earthquake along a designated fault line and then follow the big blast of energy that quake would generate. The video above shows one possible way that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake generated along the Hayward Fault could propagate through the Bay Area.
“This [modeling project] is quite novel in terms of its size and scope,” McCallen said.
These computer models will work in tandem with the results from the Soil Box Project to improve how scientists model the impacts of large earthquakes on high-risk population zones.
“What we want to do is do these simulations and then make them publicly available so that researchers and practitioners can all get and utilize those motions,” McCallen said.
The hope is to make sure that these at-risk metro areas are as prepared as possible for the next big quake.
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