February the 14th, 2025 – Croatian earthquake protection will improve thanks to a brand new earthquake monitoring system.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian earthquake protection has been improved as a result of the City Changer strategic project. That project began back at the beginning of last year and involved synergy between Croatian Telekom, Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the Faculty of Science and Mathematics from Zagreb. The group worked to install a Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS) measurement instrument on the seventeen-kilometre-long optical fibre route from Grude down to Vitaljina near the Montenegrin border.
what is das?
Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS) technology has been rapidly adopted in many geophysical applications. DAS sensors work by converting telecommunications or newly installed optical cables into sensor arrays that measure stress/stress changes and can be used to monitor seismic signals. That can regard earthquakes, explosions, traffic monitoring, landslides and so on. They also detect low-frequency mechanically and thermally induced stresses. In addition to all of the aforementioned, recent significant progress in the technique of DAS data analysis has been reflected in the application of early warning systems for earthquakes or tsunamis. This is done through data collected from optical cables installed on land or the seabed.
“City Changer focuses on the digital transformation of society by connecting key stakeholders in the transformation process. That includes both the public and private sectors, academia and the public, through the co-creation of various solutions. City Changer places special emphasis on the development of strategic partnerships that include solutions with a major impact on some of the areas that significantly contribute to the well-being and security of society.
croatian earthquake protection improvement
The development of community resilience to natural disasters and threats is certainly a very significant point when it comes to society’s safety.
“The cooperation between Hrvatski Telekom, the Faculty of Economics and Dubrovnik-Neretva County is a true example of great cooperation,” said Renato Totić, Strategic Business Project Manager at Hrvatski Telekom.
For areas where earthquake sources, or faults, are located on the seabed, fibre optics laid on the seabed are the best option. In the case of using submarine fibre optics, in addition to earthquake detection and analysis, other geophysical measurements can also be performed, such as seawater flow.
“DAS technology enables the use of optical cables as a sensor network for detecting seismic waves, turning them into very densely distributed seismometres without the need for additional elements. The operating principle is based on sending a series of laser pulses through an optical fibre and recording the return time of the naturally scattered signal.
This method enables continuous measurements in real time along the entire length of the optical fibre, even at distances that exceed 50 kilometres. Based on the first earthquake records recorded with this method, it’s clear that DAS technology has enormous potential not only in geophysics and seismology, but also in a wide range of other applications,” says Professor Josip Stipčević from the Faculty of Science.
By installing this new system, an important step has been taken towards Croatian earthquake protection improvement. It also represents much better seismic monitoring across the region.
