About us

Our group focus on the installation and operation of small-scale networks to monitor natural and induced seismicity. Typical examples for such networks are the Faido network, operated under a contract with the AlpTransit Gotthard AG, to monitor seismicity induced by the construction of the Gotthard basetunnel, or the Triemli network, which has been operated under the contract of ewz, to monitor seismicity related to the deep geothermal project of ewz in Zurich. More information on these projects, as well as on other projects, can be found under Projects.

Data from stations installed by us are usually transferred in real-time to the SED data center in Zurich. Data are included in the real-time processing at the SED, which includes automatic detection and location of earthquakes. For earthquakes above a certain magnitude threshold automatic alarms can be sent to project managers to allow for a timely response. In combination with data from the permanent networks operated by SED, data from our small-scale networks allow to compute more precise earthquake locations. This becomes important to distinguish between natural and induced seismicity.

Our work strongly benefits from the expertise and collaborations of other groups at SED, including the SED Electronics Lab, the National Networks, Monitoring and Alert group, and the Earthquake Source group.