Quake Detectors can tell cities have gone quiet

Seismometers may be built to detect earthquakes, but their mechanical ears hear so much more: hurricanes thundering hundred of miles away and meteoroids exploding in the skies on the other side of the planet. Even the everyday hum of humanity – people moving about on cars, trains and planes – has a seismically heartbeat. But coronavirus has upended our lives. Hoping to curtail the pandemic’s spread, nations have closed their borders, cities have been shutdown, Today, in cities large or small, the thumping pulse of civilization is now barely detectable on many seismograms. With seismometers, you can see the collective willingness of millions of the world’s urban dwellers to hunker down. As a result, the planet’s natural quavering is being recorded with remarkable clarity. It quickly became apparent that the roar of urban life had turned into whisper all over the world. London is no longer buzzing. The seismometers was clocking a 20% to 25% reduction in average weekly noise, compared with the week before Britain began its lockdown. Noise levels on some seismic stations in Los Angles have dropped to below half of what they normally are. In Paris, the oscillation of commuting workers has faded. A seismic station in Quito Ecuador is now registering a staggering 60% decline in noise. The bustle of college students the world over has gone. The noise levels recorded on the seismometers on the university’s King’s College campus in Aberdeen Scotland have dropped by 60% since the students were sent home.