CTBTO Executive Secretary highly appreciates Garni Seismic Station`s  role in supporting secret nuclear tests

ArmInfo.  Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), commended the role of the IRIS/GNI seismic station in Garni in recording strong earthquakes worldwide, as well  as recording and monitoring secret nuclear tests. He made this  statement during a discussion with his Armenian colleagues on the  preparatory work for the upcoming regional seminar on seismic safety  in the country in 2026. According to the press service of the  Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), since 1991, data recorded by the  IRIS/GNI seismic station in Garni has also been transmitted via  satellite to the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (USA) and the  CTBTO International Center in Austria. During the visit, members of  the delegation inspected the observation tunnel and learned about the  process of recording seismic data in real time.

"We are pleased that the region has such a structure, capable of  recording seismic data seamlessly and with high quality. I think we  still have a long way to go together," the CTBTO Executive Secretary  noted.

The delegation, according to the Ministry, also visited the Garni  Geophysical Observatory of the " Territorial Seismic Protection  Service" SNCO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During the visit,  Sos Margaryan, Director of the "Territorial Seismic Protection  Service", presented to the guests the active fault zones in Armenia,  the lessons of the Spitak earthquake, and steps aimed at reducing  seismic vulnerability, as well as the service's current programs,  equipment modernization, and the prospects for retraining young  specialists abroad.