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Mission

The mission of the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) is to operate a reliable, modern, statewide system for earthquake monitoring, research, archiving, and distribution of information for the benefit of public safety, emergency response, and loss mitigation. Further, the CISN seeks to mitigate the impact of future earthquakes by collecting, processing, and disseminating critical earthquake information in a timely way.

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Who We Are

Six organizations have collaborated to form the CISN in order to further the goals of earthquake monitoring. The founding members of the CISN include: California Geological Survey, Caltech Seismological Laboratory, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, USGS Menlo Park, USGS Pasadena, and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

In addition to the core members, several organizations contribute data that enhances the capabilities of the CISN. Contributing members of the CISN include: University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, San Diego, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Washington, California Department of Water Resources, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and Pacific Gas and Electric.

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Governance

In November of 2000, the six institutions signed an MOA that describes the CISN organizational goals, products, management, and responsibilities of member organizations. The Steering Committee oversees CISN projects while the external Advisory Committee, representing the interests of structural engineers, seismologists, emergency managers, industry, government, and utilities, provides review. Other important CISN committees include:

• Program Mangement Group: For planning, coordination, and implementation.
• Outreach Committee: To coordinate outreach among the CISN members.
• Strong Motion Working Group: For focus on issues related to strong-motion data.
• Standards Committee: To resolve technical design and implementation issues.

Various documents and reports from the CISN are available, including reports from the Program Management Group; summaries of ANSS activities, documents from the Standards Committee, and other useful materials.

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Organization

To facilitate coordination of activities among institutions, the CISN has formed three management centers:

• Southern California Earthquake Management Center: Caltech/USGS Pasadena
• Northern California Earthquake Management Center: UC Berkeley/USGS Menlo Park
• Center For Engineering Strong Motion Data

The Northern and Southern California Earthquake Management Centers operate as twin earthquake processing centers. The Engineering Earthquake Management Center has the lead responsibility for producing engineering data products. More information about CISN activities is available.

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Partnerships

The Federal Government through the USGS provides funds for seismic monitoring in California both through internal and external programs. These funds are used for core operations of earthquake monitoring in southern and northern California. The USGS office in Menlo Park works with UCB to maintain a comprehensive program in northern California. The USGS office in Pasadena is located on the Caltech campus and the USGS share responsibilities with Caltech in operating the seismic network in southern California. The USGS external program also provides funds to Caltech, UCB, and UCSD for operations and earthquake catalog production. The USGS and NSF fund the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), which in turn provides funding for the Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC) for TriNet. The USGS through the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) funds improvements in seismic instrumentation throughout the state.

The State of California provides core funding for the CGS/CSMIP program. The State, through the University of California at Berkeley, provides core support for the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, including partial support for the operation of the Berkeley Digital Seismic Network. Recently, the State of California's Office of Emergency Services provided significant funds to increase the capability of the CISN. Funds are being used to support the operation of TriNet in southern California, expand broadband instrumentation throughout northern California, and increased the number of strong motion instruments in urban regions of northern California including the San Francisco Bay area.