The Erice Seismic Network has been founded by Professor Antonino Zichichi in the early ’80s. Located in the ancient San Rocco Monastery (now the Isidor I. Rabi Institute), its activity started with the installation of the first two Wiechert horizontal and vertical component seismographs. The development of the Erice Seismic Network followed with the installation of modern Seismometers.
The Erice Seismic Network is now composed of 22 seismic signals which arrive at Erice from various parts of Italy (Lampedusa, Lipari, Monte Lauro, Monte Pellegrino, Antennamare, Gambarie, Pantelleria, and as far away as Poggiosodo – near Florence -, Monte Cimone, Campo de’ Fiori near Varese) and are compatible with seismic signals of other nations, such as the U.S.A., with which the “Alberto Gabriele” Seismic Network is connected via internet.
Earthquakes, in Italian territory or in any other part of the globe in which they may occur, can be localized in real time. The “Alberto Gabriele” Seismic Network is a realization of the projects of the World Lab and has already, today, supplied its first results.
The sensors are connected with the Seismic Pole by Direct Analogic Circuits or via Italian military radio relay stations throughout Italy. The data received from them are elaborated by a computer which then confronts them, in real time, with data received from other countries.
The “Alberto Gabriele” Seismic Network permits not only the control of earthquakes but also of underground nuclear experiments.
Thanks to this network of sensors, which Professor Zichichi decided to establish at Erice, the intensity of a seismic event and its epicentre can be determined in a matter of seconds: information which allows for a more immediate and precise intervention for rescue activities. These data are also transmitted to Italian and foreign scientific institutes with which the Ettore Majorana Centre and the World Lab collaborate.
Wiechert horizontal component seismograph