Video simulations of earthquakes made available to world

A Princeton University-led research team has developed the capability to produce realistic movies of earthquakes based on complex computer simulations that can be made available worldwide within hours of a disastrous upheaval.

EARTHQUAKE OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Fri Mar 11 2011 

The videos show waves of ground motion spreading out from an epicentre. In making them widely available, the team of computational seismologists and computer scientists aims to aid researchers working to improve understanding of earthquakes and develop better maps of the Earth's interior.


"In our view, this could truly change seismic science," said Princeton's Jeroen Tromp, a professor of geosciences and applied and computational mathematics, who led the effort. "The better we understand what happens during earthquakes, the better prepared we can be. In addition, advances in understanding seismic waves can aid basic science efforts, helping us understand the underlying physics at work in the Earth's interior. These visualizations, we believe, will add greatly to the research effort.''

The movies are available for free to scientists, members of the public and news organizations interested in featuring such images on television and the Internet.

The easily downloadable videos can be viewed at: http://global.shakemovie.princeton.edu.

They tell the story in a language that is easy to understand, said Tromp, who also is the director of the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering (PICSciE).

Japan earthquake of 9.1 Magnitude of 11th March simulation click here