Distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) systems, methods and structures for determining the proximity of vibration sources located perpendicular to a sensor fiber that is part of the DFOS system that may potentially threaten/damage or otherwise compromise the sensor fiber itself. Systems, methods, and structures according to aspects of the present disclosure employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) methodology(ies) that use as input a fundamental physical understanding of wave propagation and attenuation in the ground along with Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) techniques for estimating/determining the proximity of potentially damaging vibration sources to the optical sensor fiber.