Campus Vibration in Nanwangshan Campus, China University of Geosciences at Wuhan Monitored by Short-Period Seismometers

Abstract

Continuous seismic observations can record seismic waveforms, and ambient noise, for the purposes of earthquake researches and other applications. Here we deploy three digital seismometers (EPS-2) in and around the Nanwangshan Campus of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). This network was running from April 9 to May 9 of 2018. During this period, the seismometers recorded the May 4, 2018 M6.9 Hawaii earthquake. From the recorded waveforms, we could observe clearly the P and S arrivals, and the corresponding particle motions. Analysis of continuous observations of ambient noise shows obvious fluctuation of vibration intensity inside of the campus. The campus is quietest from 0 to 5 am. From 5 am on, the vibration intensity increases, and reaches the peak of entire day at 12 am. The amplitude then decreases to a very low level at 19:30 to 20:00 pm, and reaches another strong noisy time at 21:00 to 21:30 pm. After 21:30 pm, the intensity goes down slowly. We also observed seismic signals that were generated by the interaction of speed-control hump cars and ground. By taking the envelope and smooth operations, we observe different characteristics for different car speeds, which suggests that seismic monitoring approaches can be used for speed measurement of cars. This kind of small seismic network running in a real time fashion, would greatly help understanding of the sources of ambient noise at high frequency bands in interested areas. Analysis of a long-term observed dataset, and real time illustration will help to strengthen campus security and high-precision laboratory deployments, and also contribute to research atmosphere in earthquake science.