Department of Physics

University of Malta

The University Seismic Research Station

The University of Malta has operated various seismographs since the beginning of the twentieth century, when seismographic instrumentation began to be developed. The present station is a modern, digital, 3-component, very-broadband (VBB) system, with a remote access facility via telephone line.

The aims of the seismograph station are:

to continuously monitor and interpret seismic activity in the central Mediterranean, in particular around the Maltese islands
to use this information toward the eventual assessment of the seismic hazard in the Maltese Islands. This assessment will in turn provide needed input to various agencies, such as the Civil Protection unit, insurance agencies,urban planners, etc.
to enhance the epicentral location capability in the Central Mediterranean
to contribute to the constant global accumulation of seismic data and to the worldwide coverage of seismic events by as dense as possible a network of digital seismographs. Such coverage continues to yield ever more accurate information about the Earth’s structure
to make use of the data for further geophysical/geological studies of the Mediterranean basin, in particular the Central Mediterranean.

The present seismic station, installed in June 1995, consists of an STS-2 triaxial seismometer, and a Quanterra Q380 data acquisition system, and is housed in a disused tunnel in the limits of Birzebbugia. Its code name is WDD (WieD Dalam). The station forms part of MEDNET - a Mediterranean-wide network of such instruments, managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica (ING) , Rome. Data from the station is sent to Rome every fortnight on magnetic tape, but events of local or research interest are downloaded directly from disk and archived locally. The ING also have telephone access to the station.

The Mediterranean is one of the most seismically active regions in the world and represents a highly complex tectonic environment. MEDNET aims to contribute to the broadband instrumental coverage of the Mediterranean with the aim of improving further our knowledge of the structure and dynamics of this region. An important feature of MEDNET is the drive towards rapid data retrieval by ING headquarters whenever a large earthquake occurs. This is mainly achieved by dial-up connections, as is the case with the Malta station.

Since the station’s installation, a significant database has been built up of events that have occurred round the Maltese islands. Many of these are too small to be detected by other European or North African stations, and therefore the presence of a sensitive seismograph on Malta is essential for producing a true picture of the seismicity affecting the islands.

The Q380 Quanterra Digital Aquisition System and the STS2 seismometer at the Wied Dalam station.
The seismometer is at the end of a tunnel about 30m long and 5m high, and is 20m below the surface.

The Wied Dalam station forms part of the Mednet Very-Broadband seismographic network in the Mediterranean.

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