<p><strong>Yes, you can measure seismic energy with accelerometers. Most people do.</strong></p>

<p>There are three ways to measure seismic energy: by displacement $x$, velocity $\dot{x}$, or acceleration $\ddot{x}$. Loose-spring devices like <a href="http://www.agilegeoscience.com/blog/2011/7/15/geophysical-stamps-3-geophone.html" rel="nofollow">geophones</a> measure velocity; stiff-spring devices like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microelectromechanical_systems" rel="nofollow">MEMS</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravimeter" rel="nofollow">relative gravimeters</a> measure acceleration: they are accelerometers. Those used in seismology and exploration geophysics are very precise.</p>

<p>I wrote about the various instruments used to measure seismic energy in <a href="http://www.agilegeoscience.com/blog/2011/7/15/geophysical-stamps-3-geophone.html" rel="nofollow">a blog post</a> a while back. An excerpt about seismometers:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Seismometers [are] precision instruments not used in exploration
  seismology because they are usually quite bulky and require careful
  set-up and calibration. [Most modern models] are accelerometers, much
  like relative gravimeters, measuring ground acceleration from the
  force on a proof mass. Seismometers can detect frequencies in a very
  broad band, on the order of 0.001 Hz to 500 Hz: that's 19 octaves!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Short story: When digital seismic receivers arrived on the scene in Calgary in the early 2000s, there was a lot of skepticism. We spent a lot of time comparing them to traditional geophones. The conclusion: they were about the same. <a href="http://www.crewes.org/ResearchLinks/GraduateTheses/2008/Hons-MSc-2008.pdf" rel="nofollow">Here's one comparison</a> by Michael Hons at CREWES, and <a href="http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/pdfz/abstracts/pdf/2013/90170cspg/abstracts/ndx_hons.pdf.html" rel="nofollow">here's another</a>; <a href="http://www.sercel.com/products/Lists/ProductPublication/Sercel-digital-geophone.pdf" rel="nofollow">here's yet another</a> from one of the big manufacturers, Sercel (now CGG). Finally, <a href="http://www.iris.edu/hq/instrumentation_meeting/files/pdfs/MEMS_Seismology.pdf" rel="nofollow">here's a presentation</a> more oriented around earthquake seismology.</p>

<p><strong>Okay, but I was talking about the accelerometers in iPhones!</strong></p>

<p>Oh, sorry. As @Fred points out in his answer, consumer-grade MEMS accelerometers (as you might find in a phone or latop) may not have the sensitivity or calibration that a researcher would want, but one might compensate somewhat for this with multiple measurements, e.g. an array of devices. In other words: quantity, not quality. (This is perfectly legit: we do it in exploration seismics too.)</p>

<p><a href="http://bayen.eecs.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/journals/15WCEE_iShake.pdf" rel="nofollow">Dashti et al. (2013)</a> in <em>Earthquake Spectra Journal</em> found you could get useful measurements (e.g. for emergency response) from networks of phones with a few tricks:</p>

<ul>
<li>The more measurements the better.</li>
<li>Horizontal orientation is best.</li>
<li>Prefer high-friction phone covers.</li>
<li>Don't expect to get great data for small quakes.</li>
<li>Treat small groups of phones as arrays.</li>
<li>Don't use data for phones that fell off a table!</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-14T21:13:17.230Z
2015-04-17T22:59:45.003Z
2015-04-17T22:59:45.003Z
Matt Hall
<p>It appears the issue with using accelerometers for characterizing earthquake intensity is their lack of sensitivity, as you can read from the <a href="http://www.livescience.com/30656-detect-earthquake-with-home-computer.html" rel="nofollow">live science</a> website. </p>

<p>But that does not mean that accelerometers can't provide useful information about earthquakes, particularly larger quakes. Stanford University has established the <a href="http://qcn.stanford.edu/" rel="nofollow">Quake-Catcher Network</a> to provide it with earthquake information from accelerometers in people laptops and other devices. More information about this can be found at their other <a href="http://qcn.stanford.edu/sensor/" rel="nofollow">web page</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-15T12:39:01.810Z
I think you need to clarify that you are talking about a particular type of accelerometer and/or device.
Matt Hall
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-14T05:07:18.953Z
2015-04-14T05:07:18.953Z
Fred
<p>Is there a way to use accelerometer data to characterize earthquake intensity, e.g., on Richter scale?</p>

<earthquakes><measurements><instrumentation>
Characterizing earthquakes using accelerometer data
Michael Rogers
# Characterizing earthquakes using accelerometer data

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-04-13)

Is there a way to use accelerometer data to characterize earthquake intensity, e.g., on Richter scale?

**Tags:** earthquakes, measurements, instrumentation


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-04-14. Score: 8

**Yes, you can measure seismic energy with accelerometers. Most people do.**

There are three ways to measure seismic energy: by displacement $x$, velocity $\dot{x}$, or acceleration $\ddot{x}$. Loose-spring devices like [geophones](http://www.agilegeoscience.com/blog/2011/7/15/geophysical-stamps-3-geophone.html) measure velocity; stiff-spring devices like [MEMS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microelectromechanical_systems) and [relative gravimeters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravimeter) measure acceleration: they are accelerometers. Those used in seismology and exploration geophysics are very precise.

I wrote about the various instruments used to measure seismic energy in [a blog post](http://www.agilegeoscience.com/blog/2011/7/15/geophysical-stamps-3-geophone.html) a while back. An excerpt about seismometers:

> Seismometers [are] precision instruments not used in exploration
> seismology because they are usually quite bulky and require careful
> set-up and calibration. [Most modern models] are accelerometers, much
> like relative gravimeters, measuring ground acceleration from the
> force on a proof mass. Seismometers can detect frequencies in a very
> broad band, on the order of 0.001 Hz to 500 Hz: that's 19 octaves!

Short story: When digital seismic receivers arrived on the scene in Calgary in the early 2000s, there was a lot of skepticism. We spent a lot of time comparing them to traditional geophones. The conclusion: they were about the same. [Here's one comparison](http://www.crewes.org/ResearchLinks/GraduateTheses/2008/Hons-MSc-2008.pdf) by username_0 Hons at CREWES, and [here's another](http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/pdfz/abstracts/pdf/2013/90170cspg/abstracts/ndx_hons.pdf.html); [here's yet another](http://www.sercel.com/products/Lists/ProductPublication/Sercel-digital-geophone.pdf) from one of the big manufacturers, Sercel (now CGG). Finally, [here's a presentation](http://www.iris.edu/hq/instrumentation_meeting/files/pdfs/MEMS_Seismology.pdf) more oriented around earthquake seismology.

**Okay, but I was talking about the accelerometers in iPhones!**

Oh, sorry. As @username_2 points out in his answer, consumer-grade MEMS accelerometers (as you might find in a phone or latop) may not have the sensitivity or calibration that a researcher would want, but one might compensate somewhat for this with multiple measurements, e.g. an array of devices. In other words: quantity, not quality. (This is perfectly legit: we do it in exploration seismics too.)

[Dashti et al. (2013)](http://bayen.eecs.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/journals/15WCEE_iShake.pdf) in *Earthquake Spectra Journal* found you could get useful measurements (e.g. for emergency response) from networks of phones with a few tricks:

* The more measurements the better.
* Horizontal orientation is best.
* Prefer high-friction phone covers.
* Don't expect to get great data for small quakes.
* Treat small groups of phones as arrays.
* Don't use data for phones that fell off a table!


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-04-14. Score: 3

It appears the issue with using accelerometers for characterizing earthquake intensity is their lack of sensitivity, as you can read from the [live science](http://www.livescience.com/30656-detect-earthquake-with-home-computer.html) website.

But that does not mean that accelerometers can't provide useful information about earthquakes, particularly larger quakes. Stanford University has established the [Quake-Catcher Network](http://qcn.stanford.edu/) to provide it with earthquake information from accelerometers in people laptops and other devices. More information about this can be found at their other [web page](http://qcn.stanford.edu/sensor/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think you need to clarify that you are talking about a particular type of accelerometer and/or device.  

---

