Richmond facilitates earth-shaking research
In a joint venture with Virginia Tech and the city of Richmond, the University has installed seismic equipment in a top-secret spot on campus.
The Richmond area has not had a seismograph since the 1980s, when the U.S. Geological Survey moved most of its equipment to the West Coast. In 2003, however, an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 caused minimal damage in the Richmond area.
That quake “rocked more than just a few table lamps and ill-fitting dentures,” said David Kitchen, a geologist in the School of Continuing Studies. “It also served to remind us of how poorly we are able to monitor the earth’s tectonic processes in the region.”
When residents of Richmond’s Ginter Park neighborhood experienced a series of mysterious booms the following year, Martin Chapman, head of Virginia Tech’s earthquake center, decided it was time to monitor activity more closely in the Richmond area. Tech’s seismic network is part of an extensive national system, but coverage in the Richmond area was too sparse to find the source of the booms.
It turned out that some of the tremors were caused by teenagers who detonated bottle bombs underground, but others were naturally occurring quakes with an apparent epicenter under Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill’s monument and grave. (Hill was shot through the heart during the final days of the Civil War.)
City officials had no way to differentiate between the pranks and the quakes, so they decided to purchase a seismograph, explained John Hoogakker, the University’s associate vice president for facilities. The University provides a secure site for the equipment, and Virginia Tech scientists operate it remotely. Richmond faculty and students will have full access to the seismic data for use in courses and research.
“It is important to understand much more about what causes these quakes, how deep they originate, and what potential they have to cause damage,” Kitchen said. “So when you feel the ground shake again, you can rest at ease that the University of Richmond is making its own small contribution to solving the riddle of our restless earth.”
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