Swiss Seismological Service
The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is the federal agency responsible for monitoring earthquakes in Switzerland and its neighboring countries and for assessing Switzerland’s seismic hazard. When an earthquake happens, the SED informs the public, authorities, and the media about the earthquake’s location, magnitude, and possible consequences.
Research
Science at the Swiss Seismological Service includes research on historical seismicity, strong-motion and engineering seismology, seismotectonics of the greater Alpine region, earthquake location, verification of nuclear explosions, and statistical earthquake seismology.
The Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich is closely associated with the Institute of Geophysics and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at ETH Zurich, but operates as an off-department entity under direct control of the Vice President for Research and Economic Relations. A steering committee was created to guarantee close cooperation within ETH Zurich.
The activities of the Swiss Seismological Service can be divided into four sections:
Earthquake Monitoring
The "Earthquake Monitoring" section includes the installation, operation and maintenance of the Swiss seismological network and the earthquake characteridation and alerting procedures. Additionally this section is responsible for the deployment of temporary networks, for example for monitoring of geothermal projects, and for organising international waveform and parameter data sharing.
Earthquake Hazard and Risk Assessment
The activities of this section are focused on the goal of defining the earthquake hazard and risk in Switzerland. This understanding helps to guide the design of building codes that reduce earthquake related damages.
Earthquake Analysis
The section “Earthquake Analysis” is responsible for interpretation of the recorded data to gain for example knowledge about the seismotectonics of Switzerland. Their focus lies on the following questions: Why do earthquakes occur in this area? Which faults are active and where and when will the next earthquake happen? By answering these questions we gather the principle components for earthquake hazard analysis.
Support and Special Projects
This section acts as the support unit for the other activities. It covers a wide range of activities in the fields of communication, administration and technical tasks.
In addition the SED has several teaching engagements and staff supervises master students and doctorial candidates.
Further information
Swiss Seismological Service websiteContact
Head of Swiss Seismological Service (SED)
Schweiz. Erdbebendienst (SED)
Sonneggstrasse 5
8092
Zürich
Switzerland