Fibre-optic cables can be used to detect earthquakes and other ground movements. The data cables can also pick up seismic signals from hammer shots, passing cars or wave movements in the ocean. This is the result of a study appearing in the journal Nature Communications on July 3 2018. The main authors are Philippe Jousset and Thomas Reinsch from GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. They carried out the investigation together with colleagues from Island, UK, Berlin, Germany, and Potsdam, Germany.