NEC announced today the commencement of construction of an Ocean Bottom Seismograph (earthquake observation) System (OBSS) for the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Once completed, the system will provide valuable undersea seismic information from the waters off the Tokia and Tonankai shores of Japan.
The new 220 km system will be laid west of the existing OBSS, also in the Tokai area, and will add five ocean bottom earthquake monitoring devices, bringing the regional total to nine and three Tsunami monitoring devices, making a total of four in the region. The equipment will enable JMA to gather valuable new seismic information from even the smallest of ocean trench earthquakes taking place throughout these waters.
The OBSS will be placed on the seabed 1,000 to 2,000 meters beneath the ocean surface and will gather seismic activity data around the clock. Information will be sent in real-time through a fiber optic submarine-cable to the ground-based observation center.
