Discriminating earthquakes from nuclear events is topic of Colloquy Series Talk

Rick Brazier

Rick Brazier, interim associate dean for faculty and research and associate professor of geoscience and mathematics at Penn State, measures seismic activity.

Credit: Courtesy Rick Brazier

MONT ALTO, Pa. ― On April 12, Penn State Mont Alto will continue in its Colloquy Series talks when Rick Brazier, interim associate dean for faculty and research and associate professor of geoscience and mathematics, presents, “Keeping within the radius! Accurately located earthquakes and nuclear discrimination.”

The event will be held in the Heritage Room of The Mill Café from 12:20 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. It is open to the public and free of charge.

Brazier’s research helps to accurately locate earthquakes and aids in discriminating them from nuclear events.

The international nuclear-monitoring community compares potential explosions to known earthquakes at the same locations in order to perform discriminations, according to Brazier.

“This necessitates a database of accurately located earthquakes for comparison. In many cases, the Ground Truth (GT) events are identified by global earthquake location accuracy criteria,” he said.

“There are many local seismic networks deployed across the world that record thousands of potential GT events that fail to meet the global criteria. We have been developing location criteria for temporary and local seismic deployments in varying geological settings to expand their capabilities,” he said.

Brazier’s talk will include a brief history of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and nuclear discrimination. He will also describe how the criteria are developed using an example and photos from a location in South Africa.

The Colloquy Series presents current research by Mont Alto faculty in an informal environment at a level that is accessible to a general audience. Coffee will be provided and discussion is encouraged.

For more information about the event, contact Debra Collins at [email protected] or 717-749-6112.

Contact

Debra Collins

Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Penn State Mont Alto

Work Phone
717-749-6112