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Widespread Urban Seismic Quietening During the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Description: 

Solar eclipses are hugely significant cultural events. Although not often discussed, they also have a substantial seismic impact as wind speeds drop and anthropogenic activity decreases. We explore these phenomena by examining data from across Canada and United States during the 2024 April 8 total solar eclipse. We compute relative noise levels in more than 10,000,000 time windows across the month for several hundred seismic stations.

A clear pattern of urban seismic quietening is observed for many cities within the totality line; wherein noise levels peak slightly before the start of totality before fading significantly during the total obscuration of the Sun by the Moon and then rising back to above-average levels for the month. Such a pattern is not observed for cities even slightly outside the path of totality or rural areas within it, suggesting that this is a localised phenomenon associated with modified anthropogenic activity.

Additionally, our results present (another) piece of evidence to show that the exact Earth-Moon-Sun syzygy does not cause enhanced seismic activity, i.e. eclipses do not cause earthquakes.

Session: New Frontiers in Seismic Observations and Modeling with Innovative Methods and Emerging Data on Earth and Other Planets - I

Type: Oral

Date: 4/17/2026

Presentation Time: 10:30 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Benjamin Fernando

Student Presenter: No

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