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PRSN Instrumentation


     Currently the PRSN operates 25 seismic stations in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and British & US Virgin Islands. There are two types of stations; analog stations which consist of a sensor, a communication system, batteries and solar panel, and other peripheral electronic equipment. And digital stations, which consist of the equipment mentioned above and also require a digitizer.

     There are three main types of sensors: Short Term, Broadband and Accelerometer. The short-period and broadband stations are also known as weak motion stations because this stations detect less intense events very well, but when the events are very strong, it may be saturated. The accelerometers are considered strong motion stations because they are designed to record in scale the events of greater intensity.

     Each short period station consists of a Teledyne Geotech S-13 vertical component seismometer, with a natural frequency of 1Hz, a Teledyne Geotech VCO pre-amplifiyer, a REPCO or Monitron radiotransmiter , modulated to a 150 MHz frequency and a 12 V battery that is recharged by solar panels on most of the stations. In early 1992 the SJG seismic station became a 3 component station, with the installation of a Mark L-43D geophone, with a natural frequency of 2Hz and 5500 ohms resistance. The Mona Island and Desecheo stations followed SJG. The broad band station in Cornelia Hill (Cabo Rojo) consists of a Guralp CMG-407 seismometer.

     There are three repeating stations: Cerro Piña in Caguas, Cerro Santa Ana in Maricao and Cerro Punta in Jayuya. In these stations the signals from the different seismic stations are combined and relayed forward by means of radion signals, except the segment betwwen Cerro Punta and Cerro Santa Ana, where the information is transmited via microwave.

     All the signals from the seismic or receiving stations are received directly in real time at the data acquisition center, located in the PRSN office in the Mayagüez Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. The reception equipment consists of antennas and REPCO radio receivers (810-055-03). A Teledyne discriminator separates all the signal, which are then amplified. The data from 8 of the stations is registered simultaneously on the seismographs. Since September, 1991 the IASPEI data acquisition system (Tottingham y Lee, 1989) started running on a PC 386 and recorded the signals of all the stations, once an eventwas detected by at least three stations. This program replaced the INTEL information system that recorded the events on magnetic tape, and was installed by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Along with the IASPEI system, since June 1992, the SOUFRIERE developed by the Seismic Research Unit (SRU) of the University of West Indies in Trinidad, had been recording earthquakes on a separate PC installed solely for that program. Once a day, or at the moment of a significant event, the data was transfered from both computers to a third PC where the processing took place. Due to it's continuous recording format, the SOUFRIERE program detected many small earthquakes that were not recorded by IASPEI. On September 1999, both systems were replaced by the ViSeis continuous recording program.

Seismic stations operated by the Puerto Rico Seismic Network in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands

STATIONTYPENETWORKLOCATIONLATITUDELONGITUDEELEVATION(m)SENSOR
ASPRAccelerometerPR18.029 N66.235 W164
ASPRSeismometerPR18.029 N66.235 W164
ACPRSeismometerPR12.505 N70.001 W18
ACPRAccelerometerPR12.505 N70.001 W18
PCDRAccelerometerPRPunta Cana, Dominican Republic18.514 N68.381 W0.0
AOPRAccelerometerPRArecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico18.347 N66.754 W355.146
HUMPSeismometerPRHumacao, Puerto Rico18.142 N65.849 W80CMG-3T
PRSNSeismometerPRUPR-Mayaguez18.217 N67.145 W27
HUMPAccelerometerPRHumacao, Puerto Rico18.142 N65.849 W80FBA-EST
IDESeismometerPRIsla Desecheo, Puerto Rico18.384 N67.479 W203.073MP-L4
GBPRSeismometerPRBosque Seco Guanica, Puerto Rico17.975 N66.879 W191
STVIAccelerometerPRSaint Thomas, USVI18.352 N64.956 W383
IGPRAccelerometerPRINTER, Guayama, Puerto Rico17.965 N66.107 W10
CELPAccelerometerPRCerrillos, Ponce, Puerto Rico18.075 N66.579 W195.65
CRPRSeismometerPRCabo Rojo, Puerto Rico18.006 N67.110 W65
ICMPSeismometerPRCaja de Muertos, Puerto Rico17.886 N66.527 W10
CELPSeismometerPRCerrillos, Ponce, Puerto Rico18.075 N66.579 W195.65
ICMPAccelerometerPRCaja de Muertos, Puerto Rico17.886 N66.527 W10
SJVISeismometerPRSaint John, USVI18.332 N64.772 W179
STVISeismometerPRSaint Thomas, USVI18.352 N64.956 W383
CDVIAccelerometerPRSaint Croix, USVI17.752 N64.765 W52
IGPRSeismometerPRINTER, Guayama, Puerto Rico17.965 N66.107 W10
MLPRSeismometerPRMagueyes Island, Lajas, PR17.969 N67.044 W31
MLPRAccelerometerPRMagueyes Island, Lajas, PR17.969 N67.044 W31
AOPRSeismometerPRArecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico18.347 N66.754 W355.146
CRPRAccelerometerPRCabo Rojo, Puerto Rico18.006 N67.110 W65
PRSNAccelerometerPRUPR-Mayaguez18.217 N67.145 W27
CDVISeismometerPRSaint Croix, USVI17.752 N64.765 W52
SJVIAccelerometerPRSaint John, USVI18.332 N64.772 W179
AGPRAccelerometerPRAguadilla, Puerto Rico18.467 N67.111 W119.874
AGPRSeismometerPRAguadilla, Puerto Rico18.467 N67.111 W119.874
LSPSeismometerPRCerro Las Mesas, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico18.176 N67.086 W393
ABVIAccelerometerPRAnegada, British VI18.730 N64.333 W7.97
ABVISeismometerPRAnegada, British VI18.730 N64.333 W7.97
SMDRSeismometerPRSamana, Dominican Republic19.290 N69.188 W15
ROPRAccelerometerPRRincon, Puerto Rico18.338 N67.250 W11
OBIPSeismometerPRPonce, Puerto Rico18.043 N66.606 W102.621CMG-40T
TBVISeismometerPRTortola, British VI18.420 N64.620 W49CMG-40T
TBVIAccelerometerPRTortola, British VI18.420 N64.620 W49FBA-EST
PCDRSeismometerPRPunta Cana, Dominican Republic18.514 N68.381 W0.0
MCPRAccelerometerPR18.077 N66.362 W168
CTN1AccelerometerPRCatano-AMME, Puerto Rico18.437 N66.130 W0.0FBA-ES
ZCPRAccelerometerPR18.244 N66.640 W11
VGBIAccelerometerPRVirgen Gorda18.490 N64.402 W289FBA-EST
VGBISeismometerPRVirgen Gorda18.490 N64.402 W289CMG-40T
CVPRAccelerometerPR18.121 N66.498 W152
GCPRSeismometerPRConvento El Buen Pastor, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico18.309 N66.084 W101
FAPRSeismometerPR18.216 N65.657 W58
HUMPAccelerometerPRHumacao, Puerto Rico18.142 N65.849 W80
HUMPSeismometerPRHumacao, Puerto Rico18.142 N65.849 W80
ISPRAccelerometerPR18.085 N67.049 W86
MY10AccelerometerPRMayaguez, UPRM18.215 N67.139 W0.0FBA-EST
MTPAccelerometerPRMt. Pirate Vieques, Puerto Rico18.097 N65.553 W191.886
PDPRSeismometerPRPatillas Dam, PR18.018 N66.022 W42
IMPRAccelerometerPRMona Island, PR18.077 N67.931 W4
MTPSeismometerPRMt. Pirate Vieques, Puerto Rico18.097 N65.553 W191.886
EMPRSeismometerPRHacienda La Esperanza, Manati, Puerto Rico18.477 N66.529 W18
EMPRAccelerometerPRHacienda La Esperanza, Manati, Puerto Rico18.477 N66.529 W18
PDPRAccelerometerPRPatillas Dam, PR18.018 N66.022 W42
ECPRAccelerometerPRCorozal, Puerto Rico18.319 N66.363 W207
ECPRSeismometerPRCorozal, Puerto Rico18.319 N66.363 W207
UUPRSeismometerPRUtuado, Puerto Rico18.253 N66.720 W203.1
UUPRAccelerometerPRUtuado, Puerto Rico18.253 N66.720 W203.1
CUPRAccelerometerPRCulebra, Puerto Rico18.307 N65.283 W13.9
CUPRSeismometerPRCulebra, Puerto Rico18.307 N65.283 W13.9
IMPRSeismometerPRMona Island, PR18.077 N67.931 W4
GCPRAccelerometerPRConvento El Buen Pastor, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico18.309 N66.084 W101
QBPRAccelerometerPRQuebradillas, Puerto Rico18.477 N66.939 W74.7
SMDRAccelerometerPRSamana, Dominican Republic19.290 N69.188 W15FBA-EST
AG02AccelerometerPRUPR-Aguadilla18.468 N67.111 W0.0FBA-EST
CR03AccelerometerPRUPR-Carolina18.392 N65.990 W0.0FBA-EST
CYY2AccelerometerPRUPR-Cayey18.116 N66.163 W0.0FBA-EST
UTD2AccelerometerPRUPR-Utuado18.254 N66.722 W179.92
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