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Seismic Equipment Measures What's Shakin' in GTMO

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100528-14
5/28/2010

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW) Bill Mesta, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (NNS) -- Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (GTMO), Cuba, is home to a United States Geological Survey (USGS) broadband seismograph station.

The unmanned, satellite seismograph station is part of the Caribbean Early Warning Tsunami System for the Caribbean Basin and the Atlantic Region.

The seismic equipment was installed in GTMO in 2007.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake occurred near the Sumatra-Andaman Islands in western Indonesia Dec. 26, 2004. This earthquake increased awareness of the destructive hazard posed by earthquakes and tsunamis. The U.S. government, working with international partners, responded with a real-time system that significantly improved global earthquake and tsunami monitoring in portions of U.S. coastal regions, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

The seismograph station located at GTMO measures the activity in the Caribbean region.

The equipment is maintained solely by Electronics Technician 1st Class Michael Schiltz, who is assigned to the base's calibration lab.

"In the Caribbean, there are nine different locations that maintain seismograph stations," said Schiltz. "Because the base is located near a fault line in the Caribbean, the USGS decided to install one of the seismic stations here."

The equipment measures seismic activity near or at the base, which includes unnoticeable tremors to larger earthquakes, like the three earthquakes GTMO experienced March 20. The largest earthquake measured 5.6 on the Richter Magnitude Scale.

The seismic equipment transmitted that information to Boulder, Colo., where the USGS analyzed the information.

A service member must be qualified to maintain the equipment because of the remote, isolated location of GTMO.

If the USGS is having problems receiving the seismic data from GTMO, USGS representatives contact Schiltz and request assistance. Schiltz performs scheduled maintenance, repairs the equipment, adjusts the satellite antenna and replaces and calibrates the equipment's modem when needed.

"I was trained and certified to work on the equipment," said Schiltz. "I troubleshoot the equipment based on the USGS recommendations and use the parts provided to make necessary repairs."

Schiltz has been responsible for keeping the USGS seismograph station operating since it was installed in 2007.