TÁNAISTE EAMON Gilmore yesteday opened the centre for the Irish National Seismic Network at the School of Cosmic Physics in Dublin’s Merrion Square.
As part of an international network, the centre will monitor and analyse seismic information to check for nuclear tests.
Speaking in his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he said the centre “will contribute very much to the effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons” and provide “very significant opportunities for scientists and researchers here in Ireland to tap into” its work.
It contains TV monitors and computers, which hours earlier registered a “seismic event”, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, off Honshu in Japan. But it did little or no damage because it occurred 10km beneath the Earth’s surface.
It will now also be the location for the National Data Centre for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation.
