Seismic monitoring
Seismic monitoring, done differently
Most seismic monitoring forces a trade-off between cost and coverage. We take a different approach, so you can measure what actually matters, get your data in open formats, and act on it fast.
Trusted on critical assets
The old trade-off, and why it fails you
Traditional seismic monitoring gives you two poor options. Research-grade instruments are excellent and expensive, so you instrument a single point and hope it tells the story. Or you skip the instruments and, when a quake hits, you cordon the asset and wait for an engineer while the guessing and the downtime begin.
Both leave you short at the moment that counts. The instruments that could tell you what your structure actually experienced were either too costly to deploy where you needed them, or were never there at all. The answer is not a better single sensor. It is an approach that lets you measure enough of the structure, own the data, and turn it into a decision.
Our approach, in three parts
Right-sized, not over-engineered. You buy the channels, the ingress protection and the services the site actually needs, not a single heavily-specified box whether it fits or not. Instruments are a rugged IP54 as standard, with an IP65 or IP67 enclosure for the locations that genuinely demand it. You do not pay for a submarine to sit in a plant room. Because each point costs less, you can instrument more of the structure for the same budget, not just one spot.
Delivered working, not a project. One accountable supplier designs, builds, installs and commissions the system. The instrument's web interface is the console, so there is no separate analysis software to licence and no subscription to run it. Configurable thresholds sit in your own labels and drive email and SMS alerts and dry-contact relays straight into your existing response plan, SCADA or PLC.
Your data, your tools. Every instrument records raw time-series acceleration and outputs open, standard formats: MiniSEED, CSV, SeedLink and a programmatic HTTPS API. Feed it into your own systems, hand it to your engineer's analysis tools, or run it through any third-party monitoring platform. We do not lock you in. In New Zealand buildings, Sentinel is the easy button that turns the record into a stay or evacuate answer in minutes.
Proven in New Zealand's earthquake lab
Our instruments were developed and tested over more than twenty years in Aotearoa New Zealand's natural earthquake laboratory, and captured record ground motion through a major earthquake sequence. They are used by leading seismic research institutions and run on dams, buildings, ports and networks, supplied and commissioned by the same New Zealand team that builds the hardware. Independent, New Zealand owned, and accountable for the result.
One family of instruments, every structure
Tell us what you need to protect
Tell us the structure and the decision an earthquake forces on you. We will scope the right-sized instrumentation, and in New Zealand, the Sentinel plan around it.
How CSI's seismic monitoring compares
What makes CSI different from traditional seismic instrumentation?
Three things: right-sized systems so you can instrument more of the structure for the budget you have; delivery as a working, commissioned system from one accountable supplier rather than a self-assembled project; and open data with no software lock-in. In New Zealand buildings, Sentinel™ adds a stay-or-evacuate decision layer.
Do I need a subscription or proprietary software to use it?
No. The instrument's web interface is the operating console, and the data comes out in open, standard formats. Some vendors sell the analysis software and its subscription separately. This does not. Sentinel is a separate optional service for the New Zealand building occupancy answer.
Will it work with the systems and software we already use?
Yes. MiniSEED, CSV, SeedLink and a programmatic HTTPS API, plus dry-contact relays into SCADA or PLC, so it feeds your existing control systems, your engineer’s tools, or any third-party monitoring platform.
Is a lower installed cost a sign of a lesser instrument?
No. The cost saving comes from right-sizing, latest-generation MEMS, and being the direct manufacturer, not from cutting measurement quality. Performance is comparable to traditional force-balance accelerometers, and you can specify higher ingress protection where a site needs it.
Do you supply outside New Zealand?
Yes. Instruments ship, install and integrate internationally, with open data formats everywhere. Sentinel, the building decision layer, is a New Zealand service.
Has the instrument recorded real earthquakes?
Yes. Canterbury Seismic instruments have captured strong ground motion through a major earthquake sequence and run continuously on operating structures and networks.