Swiss Seismological Service

Understanding and managing induced seismicity remains a key challenge for geothermal and other deep underground projects. In March, over 160 international experts from research and industry met to discuss current and future challenges in areas ranging from modelling, risk assessment, response strategies and social acceptance to reservoir and stimulation monitoring technologies. New modelling techniques and machine learning methods are generating fresh insights. Among other things, machine learning is assisting with the assessment of future seismic events, which can help to improve the traffic light systems used to manage underground interventions. ...

For the third winter in the past five years, the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) and the Institute of Geophysics (IfG) at ETH Zurich have recorded icequakes on the frozen Lake St. Moritz. The two-week campaign in February aimed to provide valuable insights into using seismological techniques to measure ice thickness, to evaluate the effectiveness of various monitoring methods, and to gain experience that could one day be applied to space missions exploring icy moons. At the beginning of the year, the frozen Lake St. Moritz is a hive of activity: horse and cars races, parachutists, golf tournaments, and concerts entertain tourists and the public. Amidst the daytime bustle, the ice’s natural sounds go unnoticed. ...