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Thunderquakes enable seismic imaging of Earth's shallow subsurface

Phys · · 822 words · By Pennsylvania State University
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What to know about Thunderquakes enable seismic imaging of Earth's shallow subsurface

Researchers at Penn State have developed a method to use 'thunderquakes'—seismic waves produced by thunderstorms—for subsurface imaging. By utilizing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) via existing fiber-optic cables, the team demonstrated a way to image the ground in areas where traditional seismic sources are scarce.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 8
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Thunderquakes enable seismic imaging of Earth's shallow subsurface Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor Seismic waves produced by thunderstorms, called thunderquakes, can be used as a novel source for seismic imaging, according to a new…

Why it matters

Using existing fiber-optic telecommunications cables buried just a few feet below the ground under Penn State's University Park campus, the researchers developed a new way to use distributed acoustic sensing technology, or DAS, to better understand how…

Common ground

They also demonstrated how this coupling can be used in seismic imaging.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Researchers at Penn State have developed a method to use 'thunderquakes'—seismic waves produced by thunderstorms—for subsurface imaging. By utilizing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) via existing fiber-optic cables, the team demonstrated a way to image the ground in areas where traditional seismic sources are scarce.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-thunderquakes-enable-seismic-imaging-earth.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 1
verified
Claim 1: “Their findings were published today (Aug. 21) in Science Advances.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While evidence confirms the study was published in 'Science Advances', the provided evidence does not specify the publication date as August 21.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The relationship between science and religion involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_between_science_a…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Science Advances is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary open-access scientific journal established in early 2015 and published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The journal's s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Advances
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is the genre of speculative fiction that imagines advanced and futuristic changes in technology, scientific knowledge, or biological syste…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 2: “We demonstrated the first successful seismic imaging using thunderquakes.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources explicitly state that the researchers demonstrated the first successful seismic imaging using thunderquakes.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Paleopolyploidy is the result of genome duplications which occurred at least several million years ago (MYA). Such an event could either double the genome of a single species (autopolyploidy) or comb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleopolyploidy
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web search NEUTRAL — Seismic waves produced by thunderstorms, called thunderquakes, can be used as a novel source for seismic imaging, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.
https://www.psu.edu/news/earth-and-mineral-sciences/story/th…
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web search NEUTRAL — Thunderquake seismic imaging uses storm-generated vibrations and buried fiber-optic cables to reveal underground weak zones.Researchers led by Penn State have demonstrated the first successful seismic…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/thunderquakes-tu…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 3: “Using existing fiber-optic telecommunications cables buried just a few feet below the ground under Penn State's University Park campus, the researchers developed a new way to use distributed acoustic sensing technology, or DAS, to better understand how atmospheric acoustic waves transfer energy into the ground.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the use of existing fiber-optic cables at Penn State's University Park campus and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology to study atmospheric acoustic waves.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Penn State Altoona is a public satellite campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Logan Township, Pennsylvania. It is one of four four-year institutions in the university's Commonwealth Camp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_Altoona
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855 as t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_University
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pennsylvania State University is a geographically-dispersed public university with facilities located across Pennsylvania. While the central administration of the university is located on its main…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_University_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “Lead author Nolan Roth, who conducted this research as part of his doctoral studies at Penn State and is now a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Nolan Roth is a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University and performed this research during his doctoral studies at Penn State.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cornhuskers we…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Nebraska_Cornhuskers_foot…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kristopher "Kris" Prather (born January 1, 1992) of Romeoville, Illinois is an American professional ten-pin bowler who competes on the PBA Tour. He is known for winning the inaugural PBA Playoffs in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristopher_Prather
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mark Stephen Roth (April 10, 1951 – November 26, 2021) was an American professional bowler. He won 34 PBA Tour titles in his career (sixth most all-time), and is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Roth
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “Seismic waves produced by thunderstorms, called thunderquakes, can be used as a novel source for seismic imaging, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that thunderquakes can be used as a novel source for seismic imaging based on a Penn State study.
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web search NEUTRAL — Seismic waves produced by thunderstorms, called thunderquakes, can be used as a novel source for seismic imaging, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-thunderquakes-enable-seismic-i…
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web search NEUTRAL — “We demonstrated the first successful seismic imaging using thunderquakes.”“Our research shows that thunderquakes can act as a new source for near-surface seismic imaging, especially in regions with l…
https://www.zmescience.com/science/geology/thunderstorms-cre…
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web search NEUTRAL — “Thunderquakes” are acoustic pressure waves that can penetrate the ground as seismic signals detectable by fiber optic cables. Those seismic signals can be used to map the subsurface down to 100 meter…
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/thunderquakes-shake-grou…
info
Claim 6: “Additional co-authors affiliated with Penn State's Department of Geosciences include postdoctoral scholars Donggeon Kim and Rafał Czarny, who is now at the Institute of Mine Seismology in Australia; graduate student Young Cheol Kim; and Professor of Geosciences Christelle Wauthier.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant search results for a person named 'Nathan Fairley' and does not mention the co-authors listed in the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — Executive Director at The Falcon Group · Experience: The Falcon Group · Location: Greater Biloxi Area · 23 connections on LinkedIn. View TNathan Fairley’s profile on LinkedIn, a...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tnathan-fairley-aaa88616b
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web search NEUTRAL — View Nathan Fairley's WayUp profile. See Nathan's professional qualifications and educational background at Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College.
https://www.wayup.com/profile/Nathan-Fairley-79e5b33db7/
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web search NEUTRAL — 137 Followers, 286 Following, 21 Posts - Nathan Fairley (@nathan_fairley) on Instagram: ""
https://www.instagram.com/nathan_fairley/
info
Claim 7: “Nolan Roth et al, Imaging Earth's subsurface with thunderstorm-generated seismic waves, Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeg8096.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant search results regarding OpenSSH releases and does not mention the paper, the DOI, or the publication year 2026.
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 10, 2026 · Key security updates include fixes for shell metacharacter validation in usernames, certificate principal matching, and scp handling of setuid/setgid bits. The release also removes comp…
https://discoverbsd.com/p/6cce486284
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web search NEUTRAL — This vulnerability was discovered and demonstrated to be exploitable by the Qualys Security Advisory team. In addition to removing the main precondition for exploitation, this release removes the abil…
https://www.openssh.org/releasenotes.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 3, 2026 · OpenSSH 10.3 fixes shell injection flaw and multiple SSH security issues, strengthening system security and access controls
https://cybersecuritytimes.com/openssh-10-3-shell-injection-…
info
Claim 8: “In this study, the researchers shot a laser beam down a preexisting 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) fiber-optic telecommunications cable buried beneath the University Park campus”
SINGLE SOURCE
Web search results confirm the use of fiber-optic cables under the University Park campus, but the specific length of '2.5-mile (4-kilometer)' is not corroborated across multiple independent sources in the provided evidence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pennsylvania State University is a geographically-dispersed public university with facilities located across Pennsylvania. While the central administration of the university is located on its main…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_University_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Penn State Law, located in University Park, Pennsylvania, was one of two separately accredited law schools of the Pennsylvania State University. Penn State Law offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_Law
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855 as t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_University
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.