March 2023

The replacement of the seismometer at Morikawa Municipal Elementary School in Ozu Town We conducted the maintenance of 14 seismic stations distributed in Kumamoto Pref. and the array at Kirishima volcano, which consists of 13 seismometers, from March 28 to 29. The essential operation of the maintenance was data collection and battery replacement. In addition, the replacement of the seismometer or data logger was required at some stations. We need to conduct this maintenance every half a year. The last time was last October. It was a warm and perfect day for the observation. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Prof. Matumoto, Assoc. Prof. Emoto, Uchida, a technical staff and three students Takayama (M1), Tasa (M1) and Okuda (B4) attended to this maintenance. The maintenance was done in only two days. However, the preparation for it is crucial, including testing the performance of the seismometer and the data logger. The preparation was started three weeks before the observation. A postdoctoral fellow Mori and a student Kono (B4) played a central role in the preparation. Owing to the thorough preparation, we completed all necessary work without any trouble.

Maintenance of seismic stations in Kumamoto and Kirishima (March 2023)