Silence of Canadian Cities: COVID19 Lockdown and Seismic Vibrations

In summary, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020, leading to emergency measures being implemented in cities, territories, and countries around the world, including Canada. This allowed for the analysis of the impact of reduced human activities on the Earth's seismic vibration using data from 6 seismic stations across Canada. The majority of the reduction was attributed to the decrease in ground traffic, and there are research papers discussing the recording of human activity on seismometers in urban environments. The study found that in 5 out of 6 cities, there was a dip in seismic noise during the lockdown.
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nvikas
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TL;DR Summary
COVID19 Lockdown and the resulting decrease in human activities had an impact on the earth's seismic vibrations. In all the cities (Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Yellowknife), the seismic vibrations decreased between 14% – 44%. In the 3 densely packed cities of the population over 1 million -Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary, the seismic vibrations dropped by over 30%. The source of data was the seismic stations of the Canadian National Seismograph Network (CNSN).
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic. By then it had spread to at least 110 countries. The announcement made by WHO had a cascading effect. Cities, territories, and countries around the world ended up declaring states of emergency. Schools, universities, malls, non-essential services, government, and private offices were closed putting cities under siege. Canada was no exception. All Canadian provinces and territories — implemented some public or health emergency measures to check the spread of COVID-19.

This was the best time to analyze the impact of the reduction in human activities brought by COVID19 lockdown on the seismic vibration of the Earth.

The ground vibrations sampling rate of many seismic stations is over 100 readings a second. I ended up with a dataset of over 10 billion values from 6 seismic stations across Canada which I had to analyze using #python to measure the changes.

View the graphs of changes in Seismic Vibrations at https://hotpoprobot.com/2020/07/25/the-silence-of-canadian-cities-and-oceans-the-impact-of-covid19-lockdown/
 
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I would guesstimate that the large majority of that reduction was due to the decrease in ground traffic (cars, trucks, trains, etc.). Do you have any research data on the breakdown?

https://i.cbc.ca/1.5511296.15852521...iginal_780/empty-streets-downtown-moncton.jpg

1595894714514.png
 
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berkeman said:
Do you have any research data on the breakdown?

There are a few papers in the literature. For example, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/07/22/science.abd2438 They say " everyday human activity is recorded as a near-continuous signal especially on seismometers in urban environments. ".
 
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berkeman said:
I would guesstimate that the large majority of that reduction was due to the decrease in ground traffic (cars, trucks, trains, etc.). Do you have any research data on the breakdown?

https://i.cbc.ca/1.5511296.15852521...iginal_780/empty-streets-downtown-moncton.jpg

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Thanks. I do not have the data of how traffic reduced during the lockdown. But usually noise about 1Hz is classified as noise from human activities. I have provided a baseline, ie ground vibrations before the lockdown to get a measure of natural + human made seismic vibrations prior to the lockdown. During the lockdown, the natural noise remained but human-made noise (likely traffic, construction in cities) reduced causing the likely dip in total vibrations measured.
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
There are a few papers in the literature. For example, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/07/22/science.abd2438 They say " everyday human activity is recorded as a near-continuous signal especially on seismometers in urban environments. ".
Absolutely. And for this study, I selected cities that had a seismic station nearby to get a good measure of the reduction in this near-continuous activity. In 5 out of 6 cities, the seismic noise dipped.
 

1. What is the connection between COVID-19 lockdown and seismic vibrations in Canadian cities?

The COVID-19 lockdown has led to a significant decrease in human activity, including transportation and industrial operations, resulting in a reduction in seismic noise. This reduction in seismic noise has allowed seismologists to detect smaller earthquakes and study the Earth's structure in more detail.

2. How have seismic vibrations in Canadian cities changed during the COVID-19 lockdown?

Seismic vibrations, or ground motion, have decreased by an average of 50% in Canadian cities during the COVID-19 lockdown. This decrease is due to the decrease in human activity and the resulting reduction in noise pollution.

3. Are there any potential benefits to studying seismic vibrations during the COVID-19 lockdown?

Yes, there are several potential benefits to studying seismic vibrations during the COVID-19 lockdown. The decrease in human activity has allowed seismologists to detect smaller earthquakes and study the Earth's structure in more detail. This can lead to a better understanding of earthquake hazards and potential mitigation strategies.

4. How long is the COVID-19 lockdown expected to impact seismic vibrations in Canadian cities?

The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on seismic vibrations in Canadian cities is expected to continue as long as the lockdown measures are in place. Once human activity resumes to normal levels, seismic vibrations will likely return to pre-lockdown levels.

5. Could the decrease in seismic vibrations during the COVID-19 lockdown have any long-term effects?

It is unlikely that the decrease in seismic vibrations during the COVID-19 lockdown will have any long-term effects. Once human activity resumes to normal levels, seismic vibrations will likely return to pre-lockdown levels. However, the data collected during this time can provide valuable insights for future studies on the impact of human activity on seismic vibrations.

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