Exciting news! We're transitioning to the Statewide California Earthquake Center. Our new website is under construction, but we'll continue using this website for SCEC business in the meantime. We're also archiving the Southern Center site to preserve its rich history. A new and improved platform is coming soon!

Physical bases of the generation of short-term earthquake precursors: A complex model of ionization-induced geophysical processes in the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere system

Sergey A. Pulinets, Dimitar Ouzounov, A V. Karelin, & D V. Davidenko

Published July 25, 2015, SCEC Contribution #10889

The physics of earthquake genesis at the latest stage of a seismic cycle has always been the subject of scientific interest and discussion. In such discussion and in model development, however, only solid Earth processes have been contemplated. Development of satellite technologies brought new insight to the problem: new types of anomalies in the atmosphere and ionosphere were discovered that appear a few days/weeks before the main shock within the zone of earthquake preparation. These anomalies were thoroughly investigated, and results of this research have demonstrated a high statistical confidence warrants their identification as short‐term earthquake precursors. In this chapter we seek to clarify how information and energy are transported from underground to the upper and lower layers of the atmosphere, including near‐Earth space. Owing to the interdisciplinary character of the model, it is very difficult to create a common code for all its physical and spatial domains. That is why the material presented here should be considered conceptual rather than modeling output. As an example, if in the boundary layer plasmachemistry instrumentation is applied, for ionospheric anomalies the electromagnetism approach is adopted. This conceptual approach, however, proved to be valid not only for earthquakes but also for other natural and technological disasters where air ionization occurs.

Key Words
Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling

Citation
Pulinets, S. A., Ouzounov, D., Karelin, A. V., & Davidenko, D. V. (2015). Physical bases of the generation of short-term earthquake precursors: A complex model of ionization-induced geophysical processes in the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere system. Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, 55(4), 521-538. doi: 10.1134/S0016793215040131. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326048697_Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere_Coupling-A_Concept_for_Pre-Earthquake_Signals_Generation_A_Multidisciplinary_Approach_to_Earthquake_Prediction_Studies