Latest news
Summer tests for portable equipment
During the summer vacation we are linking with a number of expeditions to test a variety of portable seismic recording systems. Using robust and lightweight geophones we think that it should be possible to detect and analyse earthquake signals generated by the numerous small events that occur in tectonically active regions. A team from Tomlinscote School in Surrey will be spending 5 weeks in Iceland, and the Fault-Line Living expedition (funded by a Landrover/Royal Geographical Society grant) will be exploring life along the fault lines of Europe on an expedition that takes them through Iceland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and finally into Iran. You can follow their progress and see how many earthquakes they detect through their facebook page.
European seismological commission conference
The European seismological commission conference will take place in Montpellier, France, September 6-10, 2010.
This conference has a session dedicated to school seismology projects in Europe and will be an excellent venue for teachers to share their experiences and activities with a wider international audience.
Collaborations
October 28th 2009, a major upgrade to the school seismology website has involved a merging of databases with school seismology networks in the USA managed by IRIS (www.iris.edu/hq/ssn)
Recent earthquakes
Haiti January 2010
School seismology project in the press
- The cause and effect of quakes, Plymouth Evening Herald, 11 May 2010
- Earth moves for seismic students, Mid Sussex Times, 27 April 2010
- Huge earthquakes detected by Haywards Heath students, Mid Sussex Times, 21 April 2010
- Students predicting major quakes, thisisleicestershire.co.uk, 13 April 2010
- Geography Matters (post 16 and HE Committee of the GA newsletter), Spring 2010
- High school pupils have seismic time monitoring earthquakes, 10 March 2010
- School pupils monitor Haiti disaster, Newport Advertiser, Jan 22 2010
- Glasgow school pupils detect devastating Haiti earthquake, Glaswegi@n, Jan 21 2010
- "Leeds pupils tracking quake disasters", Yorkshire evening post Oct 2009
- The school seismology station in the south atlantic hits the local news
- Village hit by quake, 24 June 2009
- SEP seismometer in Barcelona detects Messi goal in Champions League final, 27, May 2009
- Did the Earth Move for Thomas Hardye School in Dorset, SecEd page 12, May 2009
- Pupils experience worldwide shaking feeling, The Sentinel, May 2009
- Geology — Will the earth move for you? TES connect, April 2009
- Earth moves for school's science pupils, The Edinburgh Paper Evening News, May 2009
- Glow Scotland blog, May 2009
- Students making waves with aftershock analysis, Leicester Mercury, Nov 2008
- Quake leaves area shaken but not stirred, Burton Mail, Feb 2008
- Tremor Expert sleeps right through quake! Billingham, Feb 2008
- Quake data recorded by school, Southwell advertiser, Feb 2008
- A very successful workshop was held at Imperial College in London on 9 July for 15 schools from London and the SE
- King Edwards High School in Edgbaston appear on BBC news with their school seismometer system.
Community Blog for instant access
Teachers involved in the project can share their latest information about earthquakes recorded by the school at the School Seismology :: Blog (site not hosted by the BGS and material on this site is not endorsed or validated by the BGS).
Financial support 2009
In 2009, the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB) is providing funds to support ten UK universities to support schools in their regions, this grant being administered by the British Geophysical Association.
In 2009, the Scottish Oil Club are providing funds to support the roll out of the school seismology project in Scotland.
Financial Support 2008
The school seismology project are grateful to following companies for their financial support that has helped schools across the UK get involved in the project.
- PGS Ltd have provided donations of instruments to 27 schools
- Exxon-Mobil have provided instruments for 6 schools
- TGS-Nopec have provided instruments for 3 schools
- GGS-Spectrum have committed to support three local schools
- The Rolls-Royce Science Prize awarded £1000 to Fulston Manor School in Kent for a Guralp Seismometer
- The Co-op donated a further £4000 to Fulston manor School to develop a seismic array with local primary schools
