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GEM’s Hazard Scientist, Kendra Johnson recently participated in the EGU General Assembly that took place in Vienna, Austria last April. The event drew more than 15,000 participants from 106 countries and featured 4,776 oral, 11,128 poster, and 1,419 PICO presentations as well as more than 600 unique scientific sessions together with 68 short courses and 294 side events. GEM participates in this yearly event to keep abreast of the latest development and advancements in European geoscience.

This year, EGU shares an interesting technology that uses seismometers to record how humans make cities shake. The project, initiated by Jordi Diaz and colleagues at the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera in Barcelona, Spain first began as an outreach campaign to teach the general public about seismometers. (source: Geolog Seismicity of Life article written by Olivia Trani) After successfully picking up the seismic signals of major football games and rock concerts, Diaz and his colleagues are now exploring other applications such as monitoring how buildings withstand human-induced tremors and tracking traffic.

“This new field of urban seismology aims to detect the vibrations caused by road traffic, subway trains, and even cultural activities,” reports EGU General Assembly Press Assistant Tim Middleton on GeoLog. (source: Geolog Seismicity of Life article written by Olivia Trani) The next EGU General Assembly is scheduled from 7-12 April 2019, Vienna, Austria. The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide.