Coronavirus lockdowns have changed the way earth moves, scientists claim it's shaking much less
The coronavirus pandemic is changing the way the earth moves. According to Belgium scientists, our planet is moving lesser than usual.
Giving way to this change are lockdowns that have forced people across the world to stay indoors. With fewer cars, trucks, and trains plying on the roads, the Earth is experiencing lesser vibrations. “It’s very literally reflecting a slowdown of our lives,” Paula Koelemeijer, a seismologist at the Royal Holloway University of London, told the Atlantic.
Now, geoscientists can listen in to the sounds emanating from below the Earth's surface. They are also detecting mild earthquakes -- that they may have missed under normal conditions.
According to Thomas Lecocq, a geologist at the Royal Observatory at Belgium, the country's capital Brussels is experiencing a 30 to 50% reduction in vibrations since the lockdown took off. The only other time the region witnesses something similar is during Christmas, he told CNN.
"Our staff is teleworking. The earth continues shaking. Ground movements, mainly due to human activity (cars, trains, industries,...) are much lower since the implementation of the containment measures by the government. #StayHome @ibzbe @CrisiscenterBE," the Royal Observatory of Belgium tweeted.
Scientists are witnessing the same in the US as well. A Ph.D. student from the California Institue of Technology took to twitter to show a graph reflecting a drop in vibrations.
Recording a drop in over a month, another Ph.D. student wrote on Twitter, "Here's daily mode noise power from a station in Los Angeles over the past month; the drop is seriously wild."
Lecocq said that Human-induced noise has dropped by about one-third. This is because the country closed schools on March 14 and suspended non-essential travel on March 18.
Low background noise means the instruments that scientists employ to study earthquakes have become more sensitive, picking up mild disturbances. "There’s a big chance indeed it could lead to better measurements,” Andy Frassetto, a seismologist at the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology in Washington DC, told Nature.
But according to Emily Wolin, a geologist at the US Geological Survey in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this may not apply everywhere. Many stations are purposefully located in remote areas or deep boreholes to avoid human noise. These should see a smaller decrease, or no change at all, in the level of high-frequency noise they record, she told Nature.
Besides helping geoscientists, the data from instruments also test if people are paying heed to containment measures and staying indoors, according to Raphael De Plaen, a postdoctoral researcher at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
"That could be used in the future by decision-makers to figure out, 'OK, we're not doing things right. We need to work on that and make sure that people respect that because this is in the interest of everyone,'" she told CNN.
It can also help motivate people to stay indoors. "We can say, 'OK look, people. You feel like you're alone at home, but we can tell you that everyone is at home. Everyone is doing the same. Everyone is respecting the rules," Lecocq told CNN.