COVID-19 quarantines reduce seismic noise worldwide

The blockages imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in a reduction of seismic noise of up to 50 percent worldwide. Human activity causes high frequency seismic waves from vibrations. But due to COVID-19 Orders to stay home, 2020 seismic noise reduction has become “the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record,” scientists in the journal Science reported Thursday.

The document examined seismometers around the world and found that the blockades, which they said included complete quarantines, physical distance measurements, travel restrictions, and the closure of businesses and services, resulted in significantly reduced seismic signals caused by human activity.

“Measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread changes in human activity, leading to up to a 50 percent reduction in seismic noise for months,” the newspaper says.

Seismic noise from human activity is constantly measured to help warn of local geological hazards, according to the document. There is generally less noise at night, on weekends, and during holidays in Christmas and New Year regions. But because of COVID-19, scientists observed an overall reduction in seismic noise even quieter than Christmas that started in January in China and spread to Europe in March and then to the rest of the world in April.

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High Frequency Seismic Ambient Noise (hiFSAN) in New York’s Central Park was about 10 percent lower during the shutdown. In Belgium, there was a 33 percent reduction in hiFSAN. And in vacation destinations like Barbados, which have been affected by a decline in tourism, hiFSAN decreased 45 percent after closing in March and April, and was 50 percent lower than in previous years during the same months.

Overall, the document says the global median for hiFSAN fell 50 percent in March and May 2020.