Abstract

Human activity causes vibrations that propagate into the ground as high-frequency seismic waves. Measures to mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused widespread changes in human activity, leading to a months-long reduction in seismic noise of up to 50%. The 2020 seismic noise quiet period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record. Although the reduction is strongest at surface seismometers in populated areas, this seismic quiescence extends for many kilometers radially and hundreds of meters in depth. This quiet period provides an opportunity to detect subtle signals from subsurface seismic sources that would have been concealed in noisier times and to benchmark sources of anthropogenic noise. A strong correlation between seismic noise and independent measurements of human mobility suggests that seismology provides an absolute, real-time estimate of human activities.

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This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on 369 (6509) 11 Sep 2020, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd2438

Cite as

Lecocq, T., Hicks, S., Van Noten, K., van Wijk, K., Koelemeijer, P., De Plaen, R., Massin, F., Hillers, G., Anthony, R., Apoloner, M., Arroyo-Solórzano, M., Assink, J., Büyükakpınar, P., Cannata, A., Cannavo, F., Carrasco, S., Caudron, C., Chaves, E., Cornwell, D., Craig, D., den Ouden, O., Diaz, J., Donner, S., Evangelidis, C., Evers, L., Fauville, B., Fernandez, G., Giannopoulos, D., Gibbons, S., Girona, T., Grecu, B., Grunberg, M., Hetényi, G., Horleston, A., Inza, A., Irving, J., Jamalreyhani, M., Kafka, A., Koymans, M., Labedz, C., Larose, E., Lindsey, N., McKinnon, M., Megies, T., Miller, M., Minarik, W., Moresi, L., Márquez-Ramírez, V., Möllhoff, M., Nesbitt, I., Niyogi, S., Ojeda, J., Oth, A., Proud, S., Pulli, J., Retailleau, L., Rintamäki, A., Satriano, C., Savage, M., Shani-Kadmiel, S., Sleeman, R., Sokos, E., Stammler, K., Stott, A., Subedi, S., Sørensen, M., Taira, T., Tapia, M., Turhan, F., van der Pluijm, B., Vanstone, M., Vergne, J., Vuorinen, T., Warren, T., Wassermann, J. & Xiao, H. 2020, 'Global quieting of high-frequency seismic noise due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures', Science, 369(6509), pp. 1338-1343. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd2438

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Last updated: 17 June 2022
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