Modern methods for acquisition of macroseismic data and their possible uses for eastern Siberia

The development of digital technologies during the last 2 decades has deeply affected seismological research. The global Internet considerably expanded our possibilities in acquiring macroseismic data compared with the traditional methods used to investigate the impact of a strong earthquake. The present paper discusses modern web-oriented methods for acquisition of macroseismic data, assesses the possibilities and limitations in the use of the new methods for eastern Siberia, and analyzes the efficiency of interactive questionnaires accessible at the website of the Baikal Branch of the Geophysical Survey, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS). In the absolute majority of cases the Baikal Branch succeeded in obtaining greater numbers of interactive responses on the impact of felt earthquakes compared with the USGS and EMSC international data centers. Comparison between the results achieved by regional and worldwide agencies leads to the conclusion that regional seismological agencies are more effective in extracting macroseismic data in the interactive mode compared with the worldwide data centers.