ANSS - Advanced National Seismic System

Mission

The Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) was set up in 1974 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). The principal objective of the network was to evaluate the local seismicity for the construction of the Aquirre and Islote nuclear power plants. These goals were accomplished in 1979. Between 1982 and 1987 the Seismic Network was operated by the Center for Energy and Environment Research. In 1987 it was transferred to the Department of Geology of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez.

In September 1991, the Seismic Data Acquisition System (Tottingham andLee, 1989) IASPEI was installed, it replaced the INTEL Magnetic Tape Data Acquisition System of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, University of Columbia. In addition to this one, in June 1992 the SOUFRIERE Data Acquisition System of the Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies at Trinidad was installed. Both systems recorded seismic data continuously from the short period stations on a separate PC which was set up for this purpose. Once a day, or whenever a major event occurred, the data was transferred via modem from the San Juan Geophysical Observatory in Cayey, to the Seismic Network Office in Mayagüez. During february 1997 data acquisition digital systems, as well as seismographs, were transfered to the Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, making faster our response in felt event cases. Since September 1999, the PRSN has updated its Data Processing and Acquisition systems, when the IASPEI and SOUFRIERE systems were substituted by the digital data acquisition system ViSeis, along with analysis programs PRLOC, DIMAS and PITSA.

The Seismic Network presently consists of 13 short period seismometers (three of them being 3 component stations; and the Cerrillos and Portugués that belong to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and 10 broad band seismometers ; which are installed in Puerto Rico and nearby islands; operating along with three repeater stations and a data acquisition.

Capabilities

Earthquake Response Products

General Informational Products

Contact Info

• Puerto Rico Seismic Network
  University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
  P.O. Box 9017
  Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 00681-9017
  
  Phone: (787) 833-8433 or (787) 265-5452
  FAX: (787) 265-1684
  staff@rmsismo.uprm.edu