The Photonic Seismology Lab,
Tel Aviv University
Lab Deploys 14-km Fiber-Optic Array in Lake Kinneret
April 2026
The Photonic Seismology Lab, represented by Dr. Ariel Lellouch and Aleksei Nelaev, together with Guy Tzarfati, a Research Associate at the Geophysics Department of Tel Aviv University, successfully deployed a 14-km fiber-optic cable across the Sea of Galilee this month. This major operation was a collaboration with the Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research (IOLR), led by Shaked Stein.
The deployment was a significant manual feat, requiring three boats and a 15-person team to lay the 600 kg cable drum across the lake floor. Unlike standard telecom cables, this array was custom-designed to cross active faults and intersect existing measurement stations, maximizing its potential for seismic monitoring and subsurface characterization.
The system is already operational and has successfully recorded earthquakes from Lebanon and the East Kinneret. Data gathered from this installation will be central to Aleksei Nelaev’s doctoral thesis (advised by Ariel), providing high-resolution insights into the seismic behavior and fault architecture of the Kinneret basin.
