Earthquakes around the world will now be detected from Mitchelstown Cave, Co. Tipperary, thanks to the installation of a new seismic station 60 metres underground.
The station at Mitchelstown Cave is one of nine seismic stations in Ireland but is the first to be installed underground.
Mitchelstown Cave was chosen as a site for installing a permanent seismic station due to its location within the quiet Galtee-Vee valley, where the station is protected from seismic noise sources such as wind, rain and heavy road traffic.
Since its installation in May, the station has already detected earthquakes as far away as southern Peru and the Fiji Islands.
Speaking about the installation of the new seismic station, Dr Martin Möllhoff, Director of Seismic Networks at DIAS, said:
“The addition of the new seismic station at Mitchelstown Cave will contribute greatly to our understanding of what lies beneath Ireland and the structure of the Earth as a whole. We received additional funding from Geological Survey Ireland with the aim of doubling the number of permanent seismic monitoring stations to 12 and we’re excited to start making this a reality.
