Edward Pigot Seismic Observatory

Edward Pigot Seismic Observatory (EPSO), Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia

	Long-period sensors	Short-period sensors
	EPSO Volksmeter Sensor - North-South - Velocity	EPSO S-6000 Geophone - North-South - Velocity
N-S
	EPSO Volksmeter Sensor - East West - Velocity	EPSO S-6000 Geophone - East-West - Velocity
E-W
	EPSO Inyo FBV Sensor - Vertical - Velocity	EPSO S-6000 Geophone - Vertical - Velocity
Z
		EPSO SS-1 Geophone - Vertical - Velocity
Z

The EPSO's Volksmeter and Inyo FBV sensors record long-period horizontal and vertical ground motions, whereas the EPSO geophones record short-period horizontal and vertical ground motions. The Volksmeter and Inyo FBV are more sensitive to teleseismic (i.e. distant) events, such as those from Indonesia and the Pacific, whereas the geophones generally detect relatively local events within NSW, such as Hunter Valley mine explosions. The Volksmeter measures calibrated North-South and East-West components of ground motion, whereas the geophones measure North-South, East-West and Vertical motions.

Another private seismic station is located at Swansea, Central Coast, NSW (SWAN), 305km southeast of EPSO. Comparison between Coonabarabran and Swansea provides a good cross check that a EPSO detected event is 'real', and not due to some local instrument disturbance. The US Geological Survey (USGS) coordinate and process data from a global network of seismographs, and these data are transmitted in real time to the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory, New Mexico. Within minutes of a seismic event occurring anywhere in the world, notifications are broadcast via the superb USGS Earthquake Notification Service. Some usefully nearby on-line USGS-network stations are located at:

Station Identifier	Place	Distance and bearing from EPSO	P-wave travel time from EPSO
CTAO	Charters Towers, Qld, Australia	1277km @ 345.9°	2:46
SNZO	South Karori, New Zealand	2530km @ 123.3°	4:58
NWAO	Narrogin, WA, Australia	3008km @ 257.9°	5:43
MBWA	Marble Bar, WA, Australia	3137km @ 283.8°	5:54
SBA	Scott Base, Antarctica	5253km @ 175.0°	8:42
SWAN	Swansea, NSW, Australia	305km @ 132.4°	48s

The following table presents seismograms from the above stations compared with observations from EPSO, along with observations from the private station at Swansea, NSW . Click on the images below for full sized seismograms.

MBWA - Marble Bar (3137km WNW of EPSO)	EPSO (N-S Axis) - Coonabarabran, NSW	CTAO - Charters Towers (1277km NNE of EPSO)

NWAO - Narrogin (3008km W of EPSO)	EPSO (E-W Axis) - Coonabarabran, NSW	SWAN - Swansea, NSW - (305km SE of EPSO)

EPSO (Z Axis) - Coonabarabran, NSW	SBA - Scott Base (5253km S of EPSO)	SNZO - South Karori (2530km SE of EPSO)

See something on the traces? Check them against latest observations from:-
USGS - Map, Australian region; very promptly updated with recent events in the Australian region.
IRIS - Seismic Monitor - Map, World An eye catching world map showing current earthquake events.
Geoscience Australia - List All earthquakes, from anywhere, detected by Geoscience Australia- may take 1-3 days for details to be posted.
Earthquake News - List - Mainland Aussie earthquakes detected by the ES&S SRC.
DMITRE - The 20 most recently recorded earthquakes in South Australia.
PSN - Public Seismic Network - recent events
EPSO Observatory uploads of significant Australian and overseas events

Other useful links:
USGS - Arrival time calculator, recent earthquake arrival times and estimated local ground motions.
International Registry of Seismograph Stations - a list of all the world's seismic observatories.
AEES - The Australian Earthquake Engineering Society
NZSEE - The New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering
   Google Earth/kml files:
   International Registry of Seismograph Stations - whereabouts of all the world's seismic observatories.
   USGS all M1+ quakes for the previous 7 days, and fault boundaries etc.
   Australian Atlas of Operating Mines
          Interested in receiving prompt email notifications of recent events? The USGS have an excellent and fast Earthquake Notification Service, which users may customise to monitor a specific geographic region. Generally within an hour of an event occurring anywhere within the world, a detailed email report will be transmitted to a registered user. A truly wonderful service, and gratis.

Between March 14-19 2011, I accompanied the 2nd AEES Earthquake Reconnaissance Mission to Christchurch, and during this period operated an EPSO Seismic portable seismograph system. Seismic data collected during this period are available on-line, along with a few photos.

A few of my favourite seismic places are listed here. For suggestions and comments regarding this Web site, please email me.