Data Services Newsletter

Volume 18 : No 2 : Summer 2016

Ecuador RENSIG Data

The Instituto Geofisico of the Escuela Politecnica Nacional has enhanced its Red Nacional de Sismografos (RENSIG) with broad band seismometers and high resolution data loggers. Funds from different projects contributed to this effort: 2009-2012 PIN-08-EPNGEO funded by National Secretariat of Science and Technology (SENACYT), 2012-2016 Investment Project funded by National Secretariat of Planning and Development (SENPLADES) and the Escuela Politecnica Nacional, the Spain – Ecuador Debt Swap Program, cooperation programs supported by JICA, among others. Data from these stations is transmitted in real time by different means to Instituto Geofisico headquarters in Quito where it is processed and archived.

Currently RENSIG has installed 130 seismic stations covering a 276,841 km2, 104 of them are broad band stations, including 5 strong motion accelerometers installed through Japanese JICA collaboration. They have been useful for monitoring the intense seismic activity that has occurred lately in Ecuador, such as the 7.8 Mw Pedernales Earthquake and its more than 2,100 aftershocks including 5 events with magnitudes larger than 6.

The Escuela Politecnica Nacional and IRIS signed a Memorandum of Understanding that establishes an important contribution from IG-EPN by sending open real-time data from 19 broadband seismic stations of the RENSIG to the IRIS DMC. These data can be accessed using Network Code EC.

Geophysical monitoring of the Instituto Geofisico is complemented by the National Network of Strong Motion Sensors (RENAC), the National Network of Geodesy (RENGEO) and the National Network of Volcano Observatories (ROVIG).

Ecuadorean National Sismic Network
Ecuadorean National Seismic Network

by Mario Ruiz-Romero (Instituto Geofiscico )

10:29:32 v.01697673