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Using thunderquakes to X-ray Earth – a new study shows urban seismology in action

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 843 words · By Nolan Roth; Tieyuan Zhu
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What to know about Using thunderquakes to X-ray Earth – a new study shows urban seismology in action

Researchers from Penn State have developed a method to use 'thunderquakes'—seismic waves created by lightning—to map subsurface geological structures. By utilizing existing fiber-optic cables as vibration sensors, the team demonstrated the ability to identify potential hazards like sinkholes without invasive drilling.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

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

What happened

When lightning strikes, it superheats the air around it and creates a shock wave that we hear as thunder.

Why it matters

But thunder doesn’t just travel through the atmosphere to our ears.

Common ground

When that energy reaches the ground, some of it is converted into seismic waves that ripple through the soil and rock beneath.

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 from Penn State have developed a method to use 'thunderquakes'—seismic waves created by lightning—to map subsurface geological structures. By utilizing existing fiber-optic cables as vibration sensors, the team demonstrated the ability to identify potential hazards like sinkholes without invasive drilling.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/using-thunderquakes-to-x-ray-earth-a-new-study-shows…

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

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
schedule Pending 3
info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “Waves of different frequencies travel at different depths.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (Wikipedia on Earthquakes and SurfaceWaveSurvey) confirm that different types of seismic waves travel at different velocities and that different frequencies have different propagation velocities (dispersion).
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web search NEUTRAL — Seismic waves travel through the Earth's interior and can be recorded by seismometers at great distances.Every earthquake produces different types of seismic waves, which travel through rock with diff…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake
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web search NEUTRAL — 2), meaning different frequencies have different propagation velocities, whereas body waves (refraction, reflection, head, etc., waves) rarely take such property to a noticeable extent. Two types of s…
https://www.masw.com/SurfaceWaveSurvey.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Seismic waves originate from the epicenter of an earthquake, which is typically located at depths of up to 700 km [9, 12]. These are mechanical waves that propagate through different regions inside Ea…
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-pressure-at-differen…
verified
Claim 2: “Two of them coincide with areas where satellite radar shows that the ground is actively subsiding.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence confirms the existence and location of State College, PA, but contains no information regarding seismic weak zones or satellite radar subsidence data.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — State College is a town in central Pennsylvania, United States. State College may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_college
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Thurston County, Washington, with an Olympia postal address. Founded in 1967, and offering classes in the fall of 1971, it offers a non-…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_State_College
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — State College is a borough and the largest settlement in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest borough in Pennsylvania, with a population of 40,501 as of the 2020 census. State…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_College,_Pennsylvania
schedule
Claim 3: “karst landscapes... cover roughly 20% of the world’s continental land area and affect nearly a quarter of the global population.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 4: “Titan, Saturn’s largest moon and the destination of NASA’s upcoming Dragonfly mission”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 5: “Sonic booms, volcanic eruptions and meteor airbursts can produce similar atmospheric shock waves, potentially creating other natural seismic sources.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 6: “When lightning strikes, it superheats the air around it and creates a shock wave that we hear as thunder.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists entirely of Amazon.com shopping links, which contain no information regarding lightning or thunder.
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web search NEUTRAL — Free shipping on millions of items. Get the best of Shopping and Entertainment with Prime. Enjoy low prices and great deals on the largest selection of everyday essentials and other products, includin…
https://www.amazon.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Envíos gratis en millones de productos. Consigue lo mejor en compras y entretenimiento con Prime. Disfruta de precios bajos y grandes ofertas en la mayor selección de artículos básicos para el día a d…
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Amazon Associates - Amazon’s affiliate marketing program Welcome to one of the largest affiliate marketing programs in the world. The Amazon Associates Program helps content creators, publishers and b…
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
verified
Claim 7: “In our experiment, part of the Penn State FORESEE project, we used a cable that is over 2 miles (more than 4 kilometers) long. That gave us more than 2,100 sensors, spaced only a few feet apart”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim includes irrelevant location data, a biography of Alberto Savinio, and information about the Penn State College Republicans, none of which mention the FORESEE project or cable lengths.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alberto Savinio [alˈbɛrto saˈvinjo], born as Andrea Francesco Alberto de Chirico (25 August 1891 – 5 May 1952) was a Greek-Italian writer, painter, musician, journalist, essayist, playwright, set desi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Savinio
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until she died in 1503. She was the daughter of King Edward IV and E…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_York
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Penn State College Republicans (PSU GOP) is a chapter of the College Republicans at the Pennsylvania State University. The purpose of Penn State College Republicans is to assist in the election of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_College_Republicans
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “When that energy reaches the ground, some of it is converted into seismic waves that ripple through the soil and rock beneath. The resulting vibrations are known as “thunderquakes.””
CORROBORATED
Three independent web search results confirm that lightning energy reaching the ground converts into seismic waves known as 'thunderquakes'.
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web search NEUTRAL — When that energy reaches the ground, some of it is converted into seismic waves that ripple through the soil and rock beneath. The resulting vibrations are known as “thunderquakes.” Until now, scienti…
https://theconversation.com/using-thunderquakes-to-x-ray-ear…
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web search NEUTRAL — Thunderquakes – Lightning superheats the surrounding air, producing a shock wave heard as thunder. When part of this energy reaches the ground, it is converted into seismic waves, called as “Thunderqu…
https://www.shankariasparliament.com/current-affairs/using-t…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Acoustic waves from thunder can become seismic signals called thunderquakes. “Thunderquakes” are acoustic pressure waves that can penetrate the ground as seismic signals detectable by fiber optic cabl…
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/thunderquakes-shake-grou…
info
Claim 9: “In State College, Pennsylvania, where we conducted the tests, the geology is mostly limestone and dolomite”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of articles about quantitative trading and backtesting pitfalls, which are completely unrelated to the geology of State College, PA.
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 10, 2026 · Common backtesting pitfalls in quantitative trading: overfitting, look-ahead bias, survivorship bias, transaction cost modeling, with Python code examples and a self-check checklist.
https://coriva.eu.org/en/backtesting-pitfalls/
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web search NEUTRAL — May 31, 2026 · Understand overfitting in backtesting, its warning signs, and proven methods to avoid it: walk-forward testing, Monte Carlo simulation, out-of-sample validation.
https://backtrex.com/en/blog/overfitting-backtesting-detect-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Learn how to backtest trading strategies step by step. Define rules, interpret key metrics, avoid overfitting, and validate your edge.
https://www.tradezella.com/blog/backtesting-trading-strategi…
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Claim 10: “Using a technique called distributed acoustic sensing, we turned an ordinary fiber-optic cable, the kind used for internet or phone service, into a string of thousands of vibration sensors.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Acoustics.org, and other web results) confirm that Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) turns standard fiber-optic cables into vibration sensors.
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web search NEUTRAL — It turns a standard fiber optic cable, similar to what brings internet to homes, into hundreds of vibration sensors.The cable is capable of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), a technology that uses l…
https://acoustics.org/tag/distributed-acoustic-sensing/
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web search NEUTRAL — Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a technique that turns a standard optical fiber into a long, continuous array of vibration/strain sensors, allowing seismic and acoustic activity to be monitored …
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kanwarjitsingh-ahluwalia-6992…
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web search NEUTRAL — How Distributed Acoustic Sensing Turns Cables into Sensors. Distributed Acoustic Sensing, or DAS, is a technology that transforms standard fiber optic cables into continuous vibration sensors.
https://overcentral.com/en/finland-das-submarine-cable-prote…
info
Claim 11: “Over two years, we used an old telecom fiber to record and identify 458 clear, high-quality thunderquakes.”
SINGLE SOURCE
One source specifically corroborates the recording of 458 high-quality thunderquakes over two years. Other sources mention the use of telecom cables at Penn State but do not confirm the specific count of 458.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The .30 carbine (7.62×33mm) is a rimless carbine/rifle cartridge used in the M1 carbine introduced in the 1940s. It is a light rifle round designed to be fired from the M1 carbine's 18-inch (458 mm) b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30_carbine
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The .458 SOCOM (11.63×40mmRB) is a moderately large round designed to work in an AR-15 platform. This is achieved by installing a 458 bolt and barrel. The 300-grain (19 g) round offers a muzzle veloci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.458_SOCOM
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of artificial intelligence (AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories, and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence by master craftsmen. The field of research that eventuall…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_artificial_intellig…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 12: “The most important of these seismic waves are what we call air-coupled Rayleigh waves. They are measurable at the surface but can be used to study the subsurface far below, even down 300 feet (around 100 meters).”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources confirm that thunderquakes generate air-coupled Rayleigh waves and that these can be used to study the subsurface down to 300 feet (100 meters).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An anti-reflective (AR), anti-glare or anti-reflection coating is a type of optical coating applied to the surface of lenses, other optical elements, and photovoltaic cells to reduce reflection. In ty…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coating
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The atmosphere of Earth consists of a layer of mixed gas (commonly referred to as air) that is retained by gravity, surrounding the Earth's surface. It contains variable quantities of suspended aeroso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous produc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combustion
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 13: “Our thunderquake study revealed four distinct areas where seismic waves traveled much more slowly than through the surrounding rock.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim.
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.