Superstorm Sandy: Much More Than Rain

In a recent article by Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418213919.htm) scientists believe that the powerful waves caused by storm shook the US; literally. "We detected seismic waves created by the oceans waves both hitting the East Coast and smashing into each other," says Keith Koper, director of the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. The most intense activity being near Long Island, New York and New Jersey, where the storm hit the hardest. "They are not earthquakes; they are seismic waves," says Koper who is a seismologist and associate professor of geology and geophysics. "Seismic waves can be created by a range of causes. … We have beautiful seismic records of the meteor that hit Russia. That's not an earthquake, but it created ground motion." The waves crashing together did create ground motion according to the research which goes to show how strong super storm Sandy actually was.

I think these tests could change the way the US tracks storms. The article explains that Hurricane Katrina was tracked using only seismometers which helped scientists estimate when the worst part of the storm would hit. If scientists find a way to update seismometers and make them more exact I think it could make preparing for storms, like Sandy, a lot safer.

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Ocean_waves.jpg