Lab records underwater sound of quake
A ship is left aground in Kesennuma in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture after Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
March 17th, 2011
07:14 AM ET

Lab records underwater sound of quake

Sophisticated recording equipment on the floor of the Pacific Ocean recorded the sound of the earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, as well as two aftershocks.

Spain's Polytechnic University of Catalonia, through its Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, made the recordings. The low-frequency sounds had to be accelerated by a factor of 16 to make them audible to humans, the lab's website says.

Listen to the audio from the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics:
Filed under: 2011 tsunami • Earthquake • Japan • Natural Disasters • Science • Tsunami
soundoff (22 Responses)
  1. My Low Cost PC project on IndieGoGo --- http://www.indiegogo.com/My-Low-Cost-PC-project

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    why don't use these firefighter ships to send a continuous flow of water atop of the Fukushima's nuclear plant buildings?
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    http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1043/ships1t.jpg
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    http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/7483/ships2.jpg
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    March 17, 2011 at 8:20 am | Report abuse |
  2. ed Bailey

    So humans couldn't hear it underwater. I experienced the 1989 los gatos boomer and the explosive sound was pretty impressive. Not quite like standing next to a tank firing but close. Interesting that the water muffled the sound to where it was inaudible. I didn't think that would be the case.

    March 17, 2011 at 9:59 am | Report abuse |
  3. Tv

    So people say earthquakes happen all the time which is true. So the world can't end cause of earth quakes. But here's to the ignorant experts that don't believe in the word " well since earth quakes and tsunamis are common which I agree, can you explain nuclear meltdowns which are manmade and will probably kill many people with it's strong radiation. So all you people that think 2012 is a myth you better rethink and get to safety before sh!t really hits the fan. Hope there are no nuclear plants anywhere close to the US west coast or near yellowstone! Well good luck and farewell , just saying!

    March 17, 2011 at 10:45 am | Report abuse |
    • LOL@PeopleThinkTheyKnowEverything

      Right...you go ahead and jump in your shelter...I'll be standing by the door laughing...

      March 17, 2011 at 12:54 pm | Report abuse |
    • Calvin

      Oh Man -they just built a nuke over "Old Faithful". Darn!

      March 17, 2011 at 2:50 pm | Report abuse |
    • TuCulito

      yes there are many nuclear power plants in the west coast. you will not be safe anywhere.

      March 18, 2011 at 1:07 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Sarah

    May God be with us all. http://nopolicestate.blogspot.com

    March 17, 2011 at 10:50 am | Report abuse |
    • Agnostic

      Please stop with the God comments, since there is no such thing as God!

      March 17, 2011 at 11:30 am | Report abuse |
  5. Tv

    I've asked for my forgiveness from God and I suggest you do the same! Also I can't wait to meet God hopefully he hooks me up with a nice girl lol jk about that but this nuclear meltdown does not look good. Could it hit the fan and cause the apocalypse? Probably because it's unnatural event. Just like the oil spill made all those birds and fish die this radiation could kill us. Life is good but when I die I hope it will be better!

    March 17, 2011 at 10:51 am | Report abuse |
    • Sigh

      Please, stop talking.

      March 17, 2011 at 11:23 am | Report abuse |
    • alvin

      The only eternal life is through being eaten by worms and microbes. You just restart at the bottom of the food chain and then spread all through that chain. Maybe nutrients in your body will go through many forms of flora and fauna and end up in a Big Mac. I would rather end up in a Falafel or Greek Salad.

      March 17, 2011 at 1:10 pm | Report abuse |
    • matte

      how do you know that the oilspill killed the birds???There was birds dying BEFORE the oilspill..and about god...Sorry but there is no god!!!

      March 17, 2011 at 2:36 pm | Report abuse |
  6. eM

    All i see here is fear. God this and 2012 that. Hello! The earth is an active place and has wiped itself clean a few times. Just because we egotistical humans live here now it's suddenly going to stop...? Ignorance is bliss isn't it bible thumpers 🙂

    March 17, 2011 at 11:23 am | Report abuse |
  7. alvin

    There is a free app called GEE (Global Earthquake Explorer) that is well worth checking out.

    http://www.seis.sc.edu/gee/

    March 17, 2011 at 1:04 pm | Report abuse |
  8. shark

    Sooo..., where was your God when this happened, or did "he" do it on purpose, which would be....what, why?

    March 17, 2011 at 1:29 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Jim Andrus

    I experienced a Richter magnitude-5.5 earthquake one afternoon in 1955 at the city library of Mount Vernon, Washington when I was ten years old, complete with jackhammer compression P-waves followed by rocking shear S-waves for about 30 seconds. The sound that quake made is still the strangest sound I have ever heard in my life. While I rocked back-and-forth in my chair inside the library, I heard a fairly-loud mechanical humming noise like an enormous electric dynamo spinning deep inside the earth below my feet. The sound completely surrounded me from all directions down, up and sideways like the most complete surround-sound experience you could ever imagine. It is still one of the most vivid memories of my life. One aftershock, but little damage resulted, one toppled chimney reported in the Mount Vernon Herald.

    March 17, 2011 at 2:15 pm | Report abuse |
  10. kim

    Are we as humans doomed to repeat the same mistakes and to deny GOD existance. The earth has wipe its self clear in more ways then one and Ive humble myself at the force of it I know Im only human and to appreciate my existance. We didnt make the earth we need to remember that.

    March 17, 2011 at 7:22 pm | Report abuse |
  11. noemi

    When GOD says enough I'm sure we'll all know.no one is perfect so guess what the world will start anew.

    March 17, 2011 at 9:27 pm | Report abuse |
  12. mary Lou Reye

    People that does not believe in God are invisible and do not exist.

    March 17, 2011 at 11:24 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Cesar

    Mary?

    March 18, 2011 at 7:24 am | Report abuse |
  14. toddsaed@hotmail.com

    sorry , there is a God, you are " IT", but outside the universe
    is another one, why they think there is none, it is in
    a vast spritual sky, beyond the innumerable physical universes,
    sub atomic physics confirms these other dimensions, CERN
    and Higgs Bosons may be a gate to them, was vibed once
    in the army, a consciousness of infinite mercy and love,
    no pictures or sound track, just that

    March 18, 2011 at 10:46 am | Report abuse |
  15. THUNDER

    THE END OF ALL THINGS IS NEAR

    March 18, 2011 at 6:39 pm | Report abuse |
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