[Rockhounds] Earth Is Literally Moving Less Now That We're All on Lockdown

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Scientists say the “quieter” Earth during protective self-quarantine has
reduced the ambient seismic noise
<https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74968X1525083&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-020-00965-x&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularmechanics.com%2Fscience%2Fa32007736%2Fearth-moving-less-covid-19-lockdown-seismologists%2F%3Fpre%3Dscience%252F%26prefix%3Da%26id%3D32007736%26del%3D%26variantId%3D%26post%3D%252Fearth-moving-less-covid-19-lockdown-seismologists>.
Human activity of all kinds, as we travel and gather and drive around,
generates vibrations that distort measurements from finely tuned seismic
instruments. In Belgium, scientists report a 30 percent reduction in that
amount of ambient human noise since the COVID-19 (coronavirus)
<https://www.popularmechanics.com/coronavirus/> lockdown began there.

Now, the resulting quiet means surface seismic readings are as clear as the
ones scientists usually get from the same instruments buried 100 meters
beneath the Earth’s surface, making measurements more more specific and
easier to use and understand. Any seismic noise that falls into the same
instrument range as human noise is suddenly much clearer, like if you were
trying to listen to two people talking and one simply stopped.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32007736/earth-moving-less-covid-19-lockdown-seismologists/