A new permanent seismic station has been established at the Benidorm Local Police headquarters to monitor ground movements in the municipality. Located in the basement of the police station, the facility belongs to the Silex accelerograph network. The installation was authorised on 4th June following a request from the National Seismic Network, which forms part of the Directorate General of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) under the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.
As Benidorm is located in an area with a moderate level of seismic hazard, monitoring the local activity is considered highly advisable. The Councillor for Public Safety, Jesús Carrobles, explained that the ultimate objective of the project is to provide accurate information to both residents and emergency services in the event of a major seismic occurrence.
The equipment was set up by officials from the Regional Service of the IGN in the Valencian Community. Councillor Carrobles noted that the station is designed to measure ground acceleration and record strong movements, data which will also be used to facilitate seismic engineering studies.
The IGN operates two primary networks across Spain: a network of seismometers measuring ground velocity to determine the focal parameters of earthquakes, and an accelerograph network to measure ground acceleration. The Silex network serves as a cost-effective, complementary system designed to increase coverage in areas that previously lacked instrumentation.
According to Councillor Carrobles, this lower-cost expansion allows the IGN to economically improve its capacity to evaluate earthquake damage rapidly. It will also enhance overall understanding of local seismicity in Benidorm, ultimately helping the IGN to produce essential tools such as shake maps.
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