Artificial intelligence is proving a game changer in tracking the Santorini earthquake swarm

As a state of emergency is declared on the Greek island of Santorini, seismologists are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence technology to provide high-resolution images of the ongoing seismic activity, in a bid to enhance short-term forecasting accuracy.

Since the start of the crisis, a team from BGS comprising Margarita Segou, Brian Baptie, Rajat Choudhary, Wayne Shelley and Foteini Dervisi, have been employing machine learning algorithms to detect ten times as many earthquakes as standard techniques. This approach is allowing geologists to identify for the first time small magnitude earthquakes that were previously undetected using standard approaches.

In other news

What is a sinkhole and how are they formed? Dr Andrew Farrant spoke to the BBC to explain how sinkholes occur, following the two sinkholes that recently occurred in Godstone, Surrey.

Seabed geology data: results from stakeholder consultation BGS collected valuable stakeholder feedback as part of a new Crown Estate-led initiative to improve understanding of national-scale seabed geology requirements. The findings from this survey have now been made available to view online.

Call for new members and chairs to join the NERC Facilities Steering Committees BGS is looking for new members to the committees over the next four years. The four facilities within this call are the: Geophysical Equipment Facility, Ion Microprobe Facility, National Environmental Isotope Facility and the NERC Environmental Omics Facility.

On the blog

Could underground disposal of carbon dioxide help to reduce India’s emissions? Balancing climate targets against increasing emissions, which are driven by the expansion of core industrial sectors, represents a significant challenge for growing economies such as India. BGS geologists have partnered with research institutes in the country to explore the potential for carbon capture and storage, with our role focusing on potential storage solutions.

Upcoming events

The Mine Water Energy Symposium is returning following a run of successful events in previous years. Over the two days there will be online talks from both UK and international participants.

The event is co-organised by the British Geological Survey, the Mining Remediation Authority, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ - UK Government) and IEA Geothermal.

> Register online