Advancements in the Chilean Seismic Network

Session: Recent Advances in Very Broadband Seismology [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/30/2020
Time: 08:00 AM
Room: Ballroom
Description: 

With an average width of about 190 km, Chile extends for about 4300 km, from approximately 17.5°S to 56°S, covering a variety of terrain and climates. More than 110 six-component seismological stations (BB + strong ground motion) distributed along the country, including two devices installed in the Chilean Pacific Islands and those part of the Integrated Plate Boundary Observatory in northern Chile (IPOC) transmit their data in real-time to the main building of the National Data Center at the University of Chile located in Santiago.

To rapidly characterize size and extension of large earthquakes in the near field (because de the main thrust region is mostly concentrated between the trench and the coast with an average width of about 150 km) the monitoring system includes real-time GNSS capabilities, both on-site position estimations as well as at a central server, based on Precise Point Positioning techniques. In near-real-time applications, as well as in the near field, unsaturated direct-displacement-estimations based on GNSS observations become critical for determination of fault finiteness of M ~ 7 (or larger) earthquakes that affect the coastal part of the country, with their associated significant tsunamigenic potential. Examples of these capabilities will be presented, such as the signals recorded for some large earthquakes taking place in northern Chile in 2014 and two events in central Chile taking place in 2015 and 2017.

Two more aspects of this network will be presented: capabilities of detection of seismicity at this scale in regions not previously monitored in a continuous manner, particularly in austral Chile and the development and integration of instrumentation locally developed to serve as a prototype system for an Earthquake Early Warning purposes for central Chile, where more than 70% of the population of the country is concentrated.

Presenting Author: Sergio E. Barrientos

Authors