Using the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, researchers in Spain involved in ChEESE and DT-GEO worked in real time to generate ground-shaking maps, calculate hazard parameters, and collaborate with Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN) on impact reports. The exercise brought together teams across two continents, combining scientific expertise and technological resources for the benefit of society.
The results can be valuable in supporting first response actions to disasters. These technologies, executed on supercomputers such as MareNostrum 5, are essential to improving the understanding of seismic phenomena and enabling authorities and civil protection services to respond more quickly and effectively to seismic events.
“The purpose of our participation in Mexico’s National Earthquake Drill was to test the technologies we have been developing at the BSC. While this was not a real emergency, the ultimate aim is to ensure that one day these tools can be applied in actual disaster situations to save lives. The exercise also allowed us to identify areas for improvement,” said Marisol Monterrubio, Mexican researcher at BSC and scientific lead of the test.
Figures: Spectral acceleration (SA) maps of the hypothetical earthquake simulated on 19 September 2025. The left map shows the full area of estimated SA values, while the right focuses on potential intensities in Mexico City. The lower chart compares the maximum SA values from the simulations with records from different stations during the 19/09/1985 earthquake. Produced by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center in collaboration with the Mexican National Seismological Service.
The drill was also an opportunity to validate key technical and operational aspects, including automatic data transfer between SSN and European facilities, the speed of near real-time simulations, and the visualization of seismic wave propagation.
For this large-scale test, BSC gained urgent access to more than 200 GPUs of MareNostrum 5. This allocation simulated the conditions of an emergency computing request, a pioneering step in Europe, demonstrating the capacity of Tier-0 supercomputing to provide rapid response during disasters.
Researchers Marisol Monterrubio, Georgina Díez, and Josep de la Puente from BSC, together with ChEESE coordinator Arnau Folch.
The researchers used the urgent computing workflow UCIS4EQ (Urgent Computing Integrated Services for Earthquakes), which produces rapid maps of shaking and impacts after an earthquake. UCIS4EQ relies on the Salvus code, developed by Mondaic, which models seismic wave propagation in great detail using GPUs.
The Data Analytics & Visualization Group at BSC also produced a video simulating the hypothetical earthquake, offering a clear illustration of how advanced computing can support disaster preparedness and risk management.
The SSN is a member of the ChEESE Industry and Users Board (IUB). Created during the first phase of the project, the IUB ensures that services developed in ChEESE meet real user needs and foster knowledge transfer into operational contexts, as demonstrated in this exercise. Participation in Mexico’s national drill is also part of the trials foreseen in ChEESE to test and validate services in real-world scenarios together with end users.
- Click here to access the open-source dataset published on Zenodo by the BSC team at the end of the exercise.
- Access the special report produced by the SSN in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the ChEESE Project, featuring seismic intensity maps of the hypothetical earthquake.
Published: 19 September 2025
Updated on 20 September 2025
By Aerton Guimarães and Varvara Vedia
Photos by Aerton Guimarães and María Paz Baghetti
Video: Jeronimo Calderon and Guillermo Marin
From the ChEESE-2P Dissemination Team
