CERI Expands Outreach and Earthquake Monitoring Activities in Central and South America

University of Memphis scientists extend seismic and volcano monitoring networks through international partnerships in El Salvador and Brazil

 

CERI expands outreach and earthquake monitoring activities in central and south America

Over the last five decades, CERI has developed state-of-the-art earthquake monitoring capabilities of the midsouth with a key focus on the New Madrid seismic zone. These capabilities are now utilized to support international partners in El Salvador and Brazil. CERI recently established a volcano monitoring network around Santa Ana volcano in collaboration with the University of El Salvador and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. CERI’s new faculty member, Dr. Jordi Julià, now expanded the Center’s reach even further south into Brazil’s Western Amazon region to monitor seismic activity in that remote region of South America and help understand the origin of its deep-focus (> 550 km) earthquakes.

Seismic monitoring in the Western Amazon (Brazil)

In 2024, a consortium of Brazilian universities deployed a network of temporary seismic stations in the Western Amazon region with the overall goal of acquiring a unique dataset for improving monitoring, imaging and educational capabilities in the region. The temporary stations were deployed at 9 select locations and complemented existing, long-term seismic monitoring sites operated by the Brazilian National Seismic Network (RSBR). Some of the new sites are in remote regions that are not accessible by land, posing major logistical challenges that are not easily overcome.

In 2025, the University of Memphis joined the effort by sponsoring the installation and operation of two additional stations (MATH, ROSA) in the region. This effort - supported through a small internal grant awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS-FRG) - is led by Dr. Jordi Julià in close collaboration with colleagues at the University of Brasília (UnB). The new stations will be in operation for about one year and provide critical observations that will help characterize seismic hazard in the region and spark collaborative research to better understand the origin of the enigmatic deep-focus earthquakes unique to this part of the South American continent.

   

   

 

Volcano monitoring in El Salvador

Since fall 2023, CERI has deployed 10 seismic stations around Santa Ana volcano in an effort to provide early alerts as well as education and training opportunities in western El Salvador. The project is led by Dr. Thomas Goebel and his research group which now includes three students from El Salvador (i.e., Adonay Martinez, Susana Delgado, Diego Figueroa). The network covers roughly 20 square miles and can detect seismic events as small as magnitude 0.5. The area is of particular concern because of frequent volcanic eruptions as recent as 2007.

   

^{Seismic network and volcanic eruptions in western El Salvador.}

CERI recently participated and helped facilitate a student-teacher workshop at the University of El Salvador. Attendees came from 13 different schools with a total attendance of ~100 students and teachers. The workshop included lectures and a poster competition, focusing on seismic hazard, volcanoes and seismic monitoring. The long-term goal is for each school to receive their own seismograph to participate in both educational and scientific activities to improve hazard preparedness and scientific understanding of Santa Ana volcano.

     

^{Seismology workshop at the University of El Salvador in October 2025.}