The ANSS Intermountain West (IMW) Region encompasses a large part of the western U.S. and includes eight core-member states (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico); Texas is an affiliate member. Major ANSS activities in the IMW Region during FY2002 were the following:

A basic real-time earthquake information system was successfully completed in Utah's densely populated Wasatch Front region—in time for 24/7 operation for public safety during the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The new system was emplaced through joint efforts, started in FY 2000, by the University of Utah and the USGS; key components of the system included 45 strong-motion stations, a new real-time earthquake notification and processing system (hardware and software) at the University of Utah, and capabilities for automated ShakeMaps. For more information, see http://earthquake.usgs.gov/about_us/news/2002/press-20020201.html

• Utah: Twenty more ANSS stations were added during FY 2002 to Utah's real-time urban strong-motion network in the Wasatch Front urban corridor (encompassing Salt Lake City, Provo, and Ogden). Eighteen of the stations were installed by the University of Utah before September 30, 2002, and the remaining two (delayed by site-use permits) were installed on October 9. Utah's ANSS urban strong-motion network now includes 65 stations operated by the University of Utah and seven stations operated by the USGS National Strong-Motion Program ("NSMP"). For more information about the University of Utah's ANSS urban strong-motion network, see http://www.seis.utah.edu/urban/index.shtml
• Nevada: Fourteen ANSS stations were added during FY 2002 to urban strong-motion networks in Nevada operated by the University of Nevada, Reno ("UNR"); a fifteenth station, delayed by a site-use permit, will soon be added. A total of 33 ANSS strong-motion stations are now operating in Nevada, including seven pre-ANSS stations that UNR has incorporated into its real-time network. Twenty of the 33 stations are in the Reno–Carson City urban corridor, and 11 are in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. During FY 2002, UNR seismologists also worked on the preliminary steps needed to implement ShakeMaps in Nevada. For more information about UNR's ANSS urban strong-motion network, see http://www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/updates/jga/urban
• New Mexico: New instruments were purchased and site permits were secured for installing the first five stations of an ANSS urban strong-motion network in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area. The stations are being installed by the USGS NSMP in coordination with the USGS Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory, New Mexico Tech, and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
• Other (Montana, Colorado): In Montana, one cooperative ANSS strong-motion station was installed in the Flathead Lake area by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology with contributed funding from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; a second such cooperative station will be installed by the end of 2002. These stations are in addition to five ANSS near-real-time, strong-motion stations that were either newly installed (three stations) or upgraded (two stations) by the USGS NSMP during FY in various urban areas in Montana (Kalispell, Missoula, Bozeman, Butte, Helena). In Colorado, the USGS installed one strong-motion station near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver and it continued temporary operation of four strong-motion stations near Trinidad, Colorado, where a magnitude 4.6 shock occurred in September 2001.

National/Regional Broadband Seismic Stations

Because the IMW Region covers a large part of the western United States and because of widespread earthquake activity in the region, national- and regional-scale seismic monitoring is fundamentally important. During FY 2002, three new broadband stations were added in the IMW Region to the ANSS national-scale backbone network. These include: station MSMT at Missoula, Montana, installed cooperatively with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology; station SDCO (Sand Dunes, Colorado) in south-central Colorado; and station CSWY near Casper, Wyoming, installed cooperatively with the University of Wyoming.

Important efforts were also made during FY 2002 relating to site selection and other preparatory work for installing national-scale broadband stations in eastern Colorado (station KCCO), northeastern Montana (station DGMT), northwestern New Mexico (station NNNM), eastern Arizona (station SVAZ), southwestern Utah (station CCUT), and western Idaho/eastern Oregon (station BMOR). Site selection and preparatory work was also done for the installation of four cooperative ANSS regional broadband stations in Wyoming involving joint efforts and funding from the University of Wyoming and the USGS.

During FY 2002 much of the ANSS organizational activity in the IMW Region occurred at the individual state level. Site selection of new urban strong-motion stations in Utah was guided by a 12-member Utah Advisory Committee for Urban Strong-Motion Monitoring. A similar state-level advisory committee guided the growth of urban strong-motion monitoring in Nevada, with separate subcommittees for the Reno-Carson City and the Las Vegas areas. On January 14, 2002, a meeting for "Planning for the Advanced National Seismic System in Nevada" held in Reno was attended by nearly two dozen stakeholders (see http://www.seismo.unr.edu/anss/advisors1.pdf ).

In Idaho the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services and the Idaho Geological Survey have taken the lead in planning and consensus building for implementing ANSS in the state. A planning document entitled, " A Vision for ANSS in Idaho" was released in April 2002. A regional planning meeting in Boise, Idaho, on June 25, 2002, was attended by about a dozen persons, and another meeting in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on October 9, 2002, was attended by 21 stakeholders.

In Colorado, ANSS issues are being championed by an earthquake subcommittee under the State of Colorado National Hazards Mitigation Council. Activists believe that earthquake hazards in Colorado are poorly understood, are probably underestimated, and warrant ANSS attention—given the state's rapidly growing population and active tectonics—in the form of both regional broadband and urban strong-motion instrumentation. (For background information on earthquake hazards in Colorado, see http://geosurvey.state.co.us/pubs/rocktalk/rtv5n2.pdf )

During early FY 2002, to enable real-time earthquake monitoring during the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, ANSS recording and processing capabilities at the University of Utah's regional earthquake center were significantly modernized (see "Real-time Earthquake Monitoring" above). Also, hardware/software recording capabilities at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology were significantly upgraded to ensure redundant recording capabilities for Montana's state earthquake network and to enhance data exchange with other ANSS networks.