SEARCH FOR PULSED ULTRALOW-FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC EARTHQUAKE PRECURSORS

Abstract

Numerous publications have appeared in the literature describing a new seismo-electromagnetic effect – the appearance of magnetic pulses with a duration of 1–40 s, which are detected at distances up to ten thousand km several minutes before earthquakes of even low magnitude. An assumption was made about the universality of the processes of impulse precursor generation and the fundamental possibility of a short-term (several minutes) warning of an approaching earthquake. In the presented article, the possibility of the appearance of ultra-low-frequency pulses that precede seismic events with magnitudes M>5.0, according to the data of a network of induction magnetometers in the Far East, is investigated. In the records of these highly sensitive magnetometers, impulse disturbances are constantly encountered, some of which are observed synchronously at several stations, which eliminates the influence of local noise. The spectral maximum of about 7–8 Hz of the oscillatory structure, which manifests itself in many pulses, corresponds to the fundamental frequency of the Schumann resonator. A comparison of magnetic observations with data from the WWLLN (World Wide Lightning Location Network) showed that some of the pulses were caused by lightning discharges in the 650 km vicinity of magnetic station. Despite the fact that some of the impulses are observed immediately before earthquakes, it is impossible to speak with confidence about their connection with seismic activity. The calculation of the number of impulses in the 5-min interval before and after the seismic shock shows that they are randomly distributed relative to the moment of the earthquake. Apparently, the pulses are predominantly due to the ionospheric response to a far lightning discharge.