According to Innovation News Network, EU-funded researchers have been exploring how to transform the world’s 1.48 million kilometers of undersea communication cables into a global environmental monitoring system. The FOCUS research initiative, which concluded in September 2025, installed a 6-kilometer prototype cable along the North Alfeo Fault off Sicily’s coast near Mount Etna. Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry techniques, these 9mm-thick cables can detect seabed movements as small as 1-2 centimeters and track temperature changes. The system has already detected a massive submarine current in late 2020 and recorded temperature increases consistent with coral bleaching events. Researchers from institutions including the University of Catania and INFN collaborated with French company IDIL on the project, which could significantly improve tsunami and earthquake warnings.
Why this matters
Here’s the thing – we’ve got this massive blind spot covering 70% of our planet. Satellites can watch the ocean surface, but what happens deep below where earthquakes actually start? Basically nothing. We’ve had almost no direct observation capability down there. Now imagine if we could turn the entire existing undersea cable network into what researcher Marc-André Gutscher calls “an environmental nervous system.” That’s exactly what they’re doing.
And the timing couldn’t be more relevant. With ocean monitoring becoming increasingly critical for climate science, this approach gives us thousands of potential measurement points without laying new infrastructure. The system detected that 1.5°C temperature increase in shallow waters that coincided with massive coral bleaching – that’s the kind of real-time climate data we desperately need.
The tech behind it
So how does it actually work? They’re using two complementary approaches. DAS (Distributed Acoustic Sensing) acts like thousands of microphones along the cable, picking up vibrations in real-time. Then there’s BOTDR, which measures tiny changes in how light travels through the fiber when the cable stretches or experiences temperature shifts. The prototype cable uses both regular telecom fibers and specially sensitive “tightly buffered” fibers that are more responsive to mechanical disturbances.
What’s fascinating is that this isn’t some theoretical lab experiment – it’s connected to existing infrastructure through partnerships like the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory. They’re literally piggybacking on cables that were already there for internet traffic. Talk about efficient reuse of existing assets.
The business implications
Now, here’s where it gets interesting for industrial applications. The same fiber-optic sensing technology that monitors undersea cables has direct parallels in manufacturing and industrial settings. Companies that need robust monitoring systems for harsh environments could learn from this approach. Speaking of industrial hardware, when it comes to deploying sophisticated monitoring systems, having reliable industrial computing hardware is crucial – which is why operations often turn to specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs designed for demanding environments.
The research shows how fiber optics can provide continuous, real-time monitoring where traditional sensors would fail or be too expensive to deploy at scale. That has huge implications for everything from pipeline monitoring to structural health assessment of bridges and buildings.
Potential and pitfalls
But let’s be real – there are challenges here. The technology is still proving itself, and we haven’t actually caught a major earthquake with it yet. As Dr. Giovanni Barreca noted, they haven’t detected significant movement on the Sicilian fault, which means it’s “locked and probably accumulating tectonic stress.” That’s both reassuring and terrifying – when that stress releases, we’ll find out if this system really works as an early warning.
There are also practical concerns about cable vulnerability – these are the same cables that carry 99% of international internet traffic. Adding critical monitoring functions means we’re putting more eggs in the same basket. What happens if a cable gets damaged by fishing activity or natural events? You’d lose both communication and monitoring capacity simultaneously.
Still, the potential is massive. Being able to detect submarine landslides and underwater avalanches that can trigger tsunamis? That’s literally life-saving technology. The fact that they’re getting temperature data from depths between 300-700 meters is huge for climate science. And the best part? We already have the infrastructure in place – we just need to start listening to what it’s telling us.
