Finding good seismic data for volcano tremors

The USGS publishes live data from seismographs on their website. For volcanoes in the USA. Do a google search if you are looking for seismograph outputs in other countries. Here is a sample search for Japan.

Finding live seismograph data:
Each country establishes its own way of displaying where to find readouts from seismographs. In the USA first select the volcano that is of interest the most. Then select the tab Monitoring. On the right hand side of the page look for the tab Filter Instruments. Then select Seismometer.

You will now arrive at a screen that looks like this:

Notice the black triangles. These are the location of the seismographs. Above is Mt Baker in the State of Washington.

The next step is kind of tricky. So read carefully.

1. Clicking on the black triangle will open up a popup window.
2. Right click on the desired image within the popup window and select Copy Image Address. You may or may not be presented with different options like a report of the last 24hr, 6hr etc.
3. Next open up a new tab in your internet browser.
4. Use the Ctrl V function on your keyboard to get to seismograph plot to appear in your screen.
5. Finally, bookmark the page so you can get to it easily.

Using the Mt Baker example the link looks like:

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/captures/baker/MBW-24h.png

Notice the 24 in the link above. There is a chance that there is another plot available if you change the number 24 to 6. That is kind of like hacking into their site to locate a graph not available to the general public.

Seismographs in Hawaii
Searching for the seismographs associated with the May 2018 Leilani Estates lava flow can be a real pain. The reason is the entry page for monitoring will load almost 1000 earthquakes that will take time and clutter the page.

Fortunately, if you are interested specifically in Kilauea Volcano and the 2018 lava flow I am willing to share with you the links to the pages without forcing you to go through hoops.

First lets show you where they are:

ERZ1 = Upslope of Kapoho is https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/captures/kilauea/ERZ1-6h.png

ERZ2 = South of Kapoho is https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/captures/kilauea/ERZ2-6h.png

PHOD = North of PGV is https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/captures/kilauea/PHOD-6h-b.png

KLUD = South of Leilani and closet to HWY 130 https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/captures/kilauea/KLUD-6h.png


While I am at it. Lets share with you the recent earthquakes for this area so you don't have to jump through all the hoops to find them.

http://tinyurl.com/ERZearthquakes


When capturing data from different seismographs, it is important for comparison purposes to have the same time line for all of them. Notice all 4 links contain the letters 6h which means you get fresh 6h data each time you reload the page.

Note: Links to seismographs are subject to change, and seismographs may go silent especially if they get covered with a coating of lava. Lava proof seismographs are simply too expensive.

Location of historical seismographic data
This section is rather advanced, however, not impossible if you are reasonably capable around a computer. Take it slowly. It gets hairy.

In the US there is a repository for seismographic data which you may be able to draw upon. Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology.

They store data called SEED files and are where you download a program called rdseed.

The program rdseed reads and interprets Standard for Exchange of Earthquake Data (SEED) files. This is the format defined by the Federation of Digital Seismographic Networks (FDSN) to represent seismic data.

One problem for most computers is the fact that the rdseed program is unable to operate unless it is on one of the following types of computers.

rdseed.mac.x86_64            -- for Mac on an Intel platform

rdseed.rh6.linux_64          -- for Red Hat version 6 on an Intel platform

rdseed.solaris.sparc_64      -- for Solaris running on a Sun/Sparc platform

rdseed.solaris.x86_64        -- for Solaris running on a Sun/Intel platform

rdseed.windows.cygwin_32.exe -- for Cygwin running on Windows 7 (32 bit app only)


I wasted several hours trying to figure out how to get CYGWIN to run on a Windows 10 computer and be compatible with the program. I then tried to look at converting my computer into a Red Hat. There does seem to be a way to download Red Hat for free as a developer. However, I made the mistake as saying I am an engineer when I signed up. If you try this route and need Red Hat say you are an administrator.

If you make it past the platform hurdle, then the rest of this below may or may not apply.

When I began tracking the seismographs on Kilauea, I wanted to look back at all the data I missed just before and after the eruption occurred.  The data is collected and housed freely available to the public if they know how to get it.

I am not keen on reading help screens, however, was able to guess that HV stood for Hawaii Volcanoes. And sure enough data is being housed for two of the four stations I am must interested in. Those stations are KLUD and PHOD.

See website http://ds.iris.edu/SeismiQuery/by_station.html

On the left hand side of the screen you may see an abbreviation for the area you are interested in looking and hopefully then the station that interests you.

Once you find the station, you make a request for data by inputting the desired range and asking for a file to be created for you.

See page: http://ds.iris.edu/SeismiQuery/breq_fast.phtml

Here is a data request filled in already for KLUD station on Kilauea.
http://ds.iris.edu/SeismiQuery/breq_fast.phtml?net=HV&sta=KLUD&yyyymmdd=2018/05/26&hhmmss=235959

The form is mostly self explanatory. The confusing part is the question "DMC archived waveforms or
 metadata/dataless/RESP**".  The first option gives you the seismograph data itself. The second option tells you about the location and name of the station as well as settings.

While you wait for your email with a link to your data, you likely need to begin preparing your computer.

1. You need a utility program called WinZip or 7-Zip to unpack a big file which is in the form .tar.gz  I used 7-Zip by going directly to https://www.7-zip.org/
2. You will also likely need a file called cygwin1.dll. Go to http://www.cygwin.com/ and download. Cygwin is a large collection of GNU and Open Source tools which provide functionality similar to a Linux distribution on Windows. It is far more than one simple file and will take a while to download.

When your email arrives you will be directed to download a program called rdseed, This program takes the data file you will get and converts it to a displayable file. Follow the instruction in your email. Likely you will be directly to this page: ftp://ftp.iris.washington.edu/pub/programs

The file I downloaded was called ftp://ftp.iris.washington.edu/pub/programs/rdseedv5.3.1.tar.gz

I then used 7-Zip to unpack the program and moved it into my c:/ProgramFiles directory. 

Here again, I got this far and then was stuck. I must either buy myself a new computer or find an old computer with Windows 7. 

Attempt #2 Winquake appears to be an alternate program to read SEED files. 
It claims support for Windows 10. Testing now. Download this program at http://psn.quake.net/wqdocs/

The program is free to use for 30 days and after that period a fee of $30 is requested. Which I would gladly pay if I do not have to buy a new computer.

Okay now I have a new problem data. I asked for a  data range of May 1-May 26, 2018 and my internet/computer failed three times now to download a 322 mb file.