Earthquakes can be devastating, as Haiti has shown. They can trigger tsunamis, like the one in Indonesia in 2004, and create enough ground shaking to topple buildings. Aftershocks can prevent people from returning to their homes for weeks, even months.
The immediate response to a natural disaster is to search for those lost, treat the injured, and to provide food and shelter for the displaced. But scientists can also play a role, in pinpointing where the earthquake originated, and determining if other quakes will hit. The developed world is able to analyze earthquakes almost instantly. The US Geological Survey runs a permanent network of instruments in quake-prone areas like the San Andreas fault. But many developing countries are not as lucky. Both Malawi and Haiti sit in active seismic zones but neither has a national seismic network.
One solution is to install a temporary network of instruments and record the aftershocks. IRIS, a consortium of US academic institutions, maintains a fleet of instruments ready to be deployed around the world. Most aftershocks are too small to be felt but with the right instruments scientists can use them, over a two to six month period, to map the features below the earth’s surface to understand the tectonics of the region.