A system called DART, or Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis, is composed of specialized buoys that monitor for tsunamis. These buoys, while necessary, are expensive to install and cost about $300,000 for annual upkeep per buoy. U-M seismologist Zack Spica and colleagues at California Institute of Technology have used a technique called distributed acoustic sensing, or DAS, to tap into a cheaper, more ubiquitous way to keep tabs on the natural disasters – using fiber optic cables that already line ocean floors.
