Tennessee Veterans Medical Center Participating in Seismic Monitoring

The Memphis VA Medical Center, in Tennessee, is participating in a seismic monitoring system that will help engineers to learn what happens to buildings during earthquakes so that they can build safer hospitals in the future.

The Memphis VA was recently equipped with 36 sensors in two buildings that will provide real-time information to the U.S. Geological Survey in the event of an earthquake.

Nationwide, over 70 VA medical centers are part of the monitoring project that will give the USGS a better understanding of how building act during shaking and how damage occurs.

The USGS has similar monitoring projects for other parts of the nation’s critical infrastructure, including fire stations, major bridges and nuclear power plants.