Tsunami- and earthquake-detecting network planned for waters off eastern Japan

A network of 154 sets of earthquake and water pressure detectors is planned for the waters off Japan's east coast, in an effort to more quickly and accurately predict tsunami.

The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) plans to set detectors along the Japan Trench and in five ocean regions: off Boso, off Ibaraki and Fukushima prefectures, off Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, the northern part of the area off Sanriku, and off Tokachi and Kushiro. The detectors in the five regions are planned to be set at intervals of around 30 kilometers. Around 5,500 kilometers of fiber-optic cable are planned to connect them.

NIED plans to start setting up detectors in the waters off Boso and in the northern part of the area off Sanriku this fiscal year and begin running those detectors at the end of the fiscal year. The operation of all the detectors is planned in three years.

Earthquake and water pressure sensors are to be installed as sets inside containers capable of withstanding depths of up to 8,000 meters below sea level. The deepest location where sensors are planned is around 6,000 meters deep. Data is to be sent by fiber-optic cable to NIED, the Japan Meteorological Agency, and other related organizations. Read More