Welcome to the Quake-Catcher Network.
The Quake-Catcher Network (QCN)is a collaborative initiative for developing the world's largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to internet-connected computers.
With your help, the Quake-Catcher Network can provide better understanding of earthquakes, give early warning to schools, emergency response systems, and others.
This is a global project, so if you have the right equipment you can paricipate anywhere on the globe!
How does it work?
The QCN obtains information about earthquake waves (seismic waves) by using computers that are connected to the internet. Many laptop computers have built in sensors and desktop computers can utilize small USB sensors to collect the data. The data from these sensors are collected only when the computer is turned on and idle and is sent over the internet to be anaysized by QCN.
How do I get involved?
There are two ways to be involved in this amzaing network depending on the type of computer you have:
Laptop Network (more...)
Desktop Network (more...)
Do I earn EarthTrek Points?
Yes! The QCN awards credits based on the number of hours that your computer collects data and other factors. You will earn EarthTrek points based on those credits (up to 10,000 points).
After you have earned 50 QCN credits you will also be automatically awarded the QCN Award.
Where are people collecting data?
Click on the QCN Map link in the left-hand side navigation to see where sensors are locasted and the latest Earthquakes.