The personnel and the students who work for the PRSN, analyze and locate local earthquakes and any other earthquakes that occur in other parts of the region and the world. For the last ten years (1987-1997), 4,895 earthquakes were located in the region of Puerto Rico  with magnitudes that vary from 1.5 to 5.0; earthquakes with high magnitudes were less frequent.

Example of a seismogram. The arrows indicate the arrival of the P and S waves.

In order to locate an earthquake, the arrival times of P (primary) and S (secondary) waves for all the stations that register the earthquake are read (a minimum of three). Knowing the speeds of these two waves, and by means of computation programs, the focus (latitude, longitude and depth) of the earthquake is determined.

The Seismic Network calculates the magnitude on the basis of: (1) the maximum amplitude, (2) the duration of the earthquake and (3) the difference between the arrival time of the P wave and the end of the registrered earthquake. 

This information serves as a foundation to make studies of seismic danger and investigation of the region's tectonics .

The PRSN is member of the National Council of Seismic Systems of the United States and also of MIDAS, a partnership of seismic institutions of the Caribbean. The PRSN is responsible for the maintenance of the electronic center of data and seismic information of MIDAS. It can be visited at: http://midas.uprm.edu. The PRSN also gives orientations to citizens about the seismic phenomenon and the measures that can be taken to reduce the impact of an earthquake.

UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO AT MAYAGÜEZ
PUERTO RICO SEISMIC NETWORK
Box 9017
Mayagüez, PR 00681-9017
Tel. 265-5452, Fax  265-1684

http://rmsismo.uprm.edu
e-mail: