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Earthquake Data

Posted by Hemos on from the watching-the-world-move dept.

ctwxman writes "There's no doubt governments around the world have built a fine network of sensors to monitor earthquakes. Yet, when I want to see what's happening, I go to the Redwoood City Public Seismic Network, http://psn.quake.net/. Within five minutes, amateurs, most far away from Redwood City and using homebuilt equipment (yes, there are links to instructions on how you can build your own), have posted their seismogram plots http://psn.quake.net/cgi-dos/event.exe. It's astounding that 'just plain folks' can sense the Earth move halfway around world. And, It's neater to see with your own eyes."

15 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Other Data sources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hey all,

    Looks like the planet just jiggled:
    http://quake.geo.berkeley.edu/ftp/outgoi ng/userdat a/quicklook/BKS.LHZ.current.gif

    also there is:
    http://quake.geo.berkeley.edu/

    One of the interesting thing I've learned simply by watching the plots day after day is that the background noise is really different day to day. First I thought it was traffic, but I finally figured out (and was told) that it's due to the waves crashing on the coast. The waves seem to lead the storms too which is kindda cool. Now I'm starting to move into weather, just watching the clouds day in, day out and see what I can learn.

    cheers,
    adrian

  2. .exe??? by cuiousyellow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Am I the only /. visitor that flinches at a url that ends in .exe?

    1. Re:.exe??? by ReverendRyan · · Score: 1

      No. I have *.exe (among other things) blocked at the firewall. I have never figured out why anyone would name a webpage with a .exe extension. Especially now that viruses/worms are so rampant, and there are so many holes in the popular browers. Its too bad, too, because I would like to have been able to read the article

    2. Re:.exe??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The reason in this case is that there is some kind of server-side execution going on. So the .exe can be read as .cgi or what have you.

      A little effort on the part of the webmaster could have hidden that extension and just executed the CGI program behind the scenes.

    3. Re:.exe??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Ignore this problem and you get what we have here: a majority of the people refusing to click on the link at all.

      Now, if you're trying to avoid the slashdot effect, then maybe this is a good strategy, but if you are serving pages professionally, you want people to click on your links without worry, not with tons of trepidation.

    4. Re:.exe??? by Lars+T. · · Score: 1

      The simpleton's paranoia. OTOH they probably think they are safely downloading a picture and not an executable just because the URL ends with ".jpg".

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  3. earthquake data by Sarunas · · Score: 1

    You can get seismograms from as far back as people have been recording them. You can specify the time, location, and duration, and they'll retreive the data file for you. I won't post the link so they won't get slammed. But it is readily available from university and government sites.

  4. I'll post the link by ObviousGuy · · Score: 3, Informative

    U.S. Geological Survey

    They are one of the most hit servers in the government. I think they can take a back page Slashdot linking.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  5. Mexico City earthquake by The+Mayor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What a timely article given the recent earthquake in Mexico City. Was this article planned for submission before the earthquake? Perhaps /. is part of some gov't conspiracy to control earthquakes. Maybe I should go dig out my tinfoil hat.

    --
    --Be human.
    1. Re:Mexico City earthquake by ctwxman · · Score: 1

      I'm the 'submittee' and it was the Mexican quake that brought this site to mind, and to Slashdot.

  6. didn't bother me by barakn · · Score: 1

    I just fired up the ol ' iMac and clicked away.

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  7. Speaking of earthquakes... by phug · · Score: 2, Informative

    there was a 7.6 quake w/ epicenter in Colima, Mexico (a bit south of Puerto Vallarta, west coast) that hit a few hours ago. Shook the house a fair deal here in Guadalajara. Far as I can tell, Guadalajara (only six million people) is a deal closer to the epicenter than Mexico City, but the sensationalist US media seem to think nobody else exists. Oh well.

  8. Don't try this at home. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    That is, don't try this at home if you live in a city like me. All I'd get is a traffic meter. I can feel each bus and truck go by.

  9. yeah sure by dandelion_wine · · Score: 1

    it's neat till they hook it to your van at Lookout Point and post the results in the school gymnasium. bastards.

  10. Best Site by dnahelix · · Score: 1

    U.S. Geological Survey

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