Civilian monitoring video records for earthquake intensity: a potentially unbiased online information source of macro-seismology

We collected and analyzed 68 civilian monitoring videos recording the scenes of the May 12, 2008, Wenchuan earthquake. These video recordings are shared online by volunteers after the earthquake. Intensity was estimated by visual inspection of the playback video recordings. Comparing to traditional media accounts, these video records have the distinctive unbiased feature in obtaining local intensity due to their dynamic and repeatable nature. We argue that with proper guidance for providing the necessary information of the location and time when sharing these data online, civilian monitoring videos are potentially more and more useful in the citizen-powered macro-seismology. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013