Pipeline 101
Dr Quake

Pipeline engineers maintain an elaborate monitoring system to track and help respond to seismic activity along the 800-mile-long pipeline. Strategically located sensors record earthquake data at select sites along the pipeline and send it to a central processing unit nicknamed “Dr. Quake” at TAPS Operations Control Center in Valdez. Dr. Quake processes the data and estimates earthquake accelerations between the sensing instruments. It then prepares a mile-by-mile report to help identify possible earthquake damage. Engineers then use the report as a checklist to initiate prioritized inspections and damage assessment of critical TAPS equipment to assure system integrity.