Researchers with the Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky are hoping to use devices normally meant to monitor earthquake activity to identify when tornadoes touch down.
Kentucky Seismologist Seth Carpenter said seismic monitoring stations located in Hickman, Lyon and McLean counties were able to detect vibrations from the December 2021 tornado outbreak — which spawned an EF-4 tornado that traveled over 165 miles across western Tennessee and Kentucky. Carpenter wasn’t surprised by the seismic readings from the tornadoes — in fact, he said they were to be expected. Back in 2014, the instruments recording seismic activity were able to detect when a sinkhole swallowed a portion of the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.
Carpenter said, due to the unique nature of the seismic readings from December 2021, there’s a possibility seismic sensors could in the future be used to gauge tornadic activity…