This high-tech device can detect earthquake, tsunami in advance, improve detection

Scientists have successfully developed and tested a high-tech device that can detect small movements and changes in Earth's seafloor -- often a precursor to deadly natural hazards, like earthquakes, volcaes and tsunamis.

shallow water buoy was installed off Egmont Key in Gulf of Mexico last year, and has been producing data on three-dimensional motion of sea floor, according to researchers from University of South Florida (USF) in US.

system will be able to detect small changes in stress and strain of Earth's crust, researchers ted.

patent-pending seafloor geodesy system is an anchored spar buoy topped by high precision global positioning system (GPS), y said.

buoy' orientation is measured using a digital compass that provides heading, pitch, and roll information -- helping to capture crucial side-to-side motion of Earth that can be diagstic of major tsunami-producing earthquakes, Dixon said.

While re are several techniques for seafloor monitoring currently available, that techlogy typically works best in deeper ocean where re is less ise interference.

Shallow coastal waters, which are less than a few hundred metres in depth, are a more challenging environment but also an important one for many applications, including certain types of devastating earthquakes, researchers said.

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Offshore strain accumulation and release processes are critical for understanding megathrust earthquakes and tsunamis, y ted.

experimental buoy rests on sea bottom using a heavy concrete ballast and has been able to withstand several storms.

system is capable of detecting movements as small as one to two centimetres, said Tim Dixon, Distinguished Professor at USF School of Geosciences.

" techlogy has several potential applications in offshore oil and gas industry and volca monitoring in some places, but big one is for improved forecasting of earthquakes and tsunamis in subduction zones," Dixon said.

" giant earthquakes and tsunamis in Sumatra in 2004 and in Japan in 2011 are examples of kind of events we'd like to better understand and forecast in future," he said.

Dixon said system is designed for subduction zone applications in Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" where offshore strain accumulation and release processes are currently poorly monitored.

One example where group hopes to deploy new system is shallow coastal waters of earthquake prone Central America.

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