No, I’m definitely NOT talking about the children’s band. When I say “wiggles,” I’m referring to the images we see on our seismograms here in the geophysics department when searching for earthquake data. So why exactly does this research matter? Well, earthquakes tend to be a hot topic in geology, and there is definitley a reason for that. Earthquakes can cause massive amounts of damage, injury, and loss of life under the worst circumstances. It is extremely important to understand the wiggles we analyze on our screens every day because this is something that can have a huge impact on the people affected by it. In Greeley, an area that has not historically been seismically active, it’s critical to understand what’s going on with these earthquakes to see if there’s a way we can mitigate the issue, or possibly stop it completely. It’s not just the people of Greeley who might benefit from this research; it’s people living in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and several other states who have had their lives interrupted by these induced earthquakes. Understanding the wiggles matters, not just for scientific research, but for the benefit of all the people who actually experience these earthquakes.
-Becca
