Global quieting of high-frequency seismic noise due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Human activity causes vibrations that propagate into the ground as high-frequency seismic waves. Measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread changes in human activity, leading to a months-long reduction in seismic noise of up to 50%. The 2020 seismic noise quiet period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record. While the reduction is strongest at surface seismometers in populated areas, this seismic quiescence extends for many kilometers radially and hundreds of meters in depth. This provides an opportunity to detect subtle signals from subsurface seismic sources that would have been concealed in noisier times and to benchmark sources of anthropogenic noise. A strong correlation between seismic noise and independent measurements of human mobility suggests that seismology provides an absolute, real-time estimate of population dynamics.
Date Issued
2020-09-11
Date Acceptance
2020-07-14
Citation
Science, 2020, 369 (6509), pp.1338-1343
ISSN
0036-8075
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Start Page
1338
End Page
1343
Journal / Book Title
Science
Volume
369
Issue
6509
Copyright Statement
© 2020, American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on [Volume number 369, 11 September 2020], DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd2438
Identifier
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/07/22/science.abd2438
Subjects
General Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-07-23