Precursory quiescence before the August 1982 Stone Canyon,San Andreas fault,earthquakes

The Stone Canyon earthquake sequence started during August 1982 and lasted for about four months. It contained four mainshocks withM _L 4, each with an aftershock zone about 4 km long. These mainshocks, progressing from southeast to northwest, ruptured a segment of the fault approximately 20 km long leaving two gaps, which were later filled by theM _L =4.6 mainshocks of January 14, and May 31, 1986. The equivalent magnitude of the sequence isM _L =5.0.Precursory seismic quiescence could be identified in: (1) the northernmost 10 km of the aftershock zone which contained three of the mainshocks; and (2) the southern gap in the aftershock zone. The fault segment containing the first mainshock and its aftershocks did not show quiescence. This pattern of precursory quiescence is very similar to two cases in Hawaii where the rupture initiation points of the mainshocks (M _S =7.2 and 6.6, respectively) were located in volumes of constant seismicity rate, surrounded by volumes with pronounced precursory quiescence.The precursory quiescence before the August 1982 Stone Canyon earthquakes lasted for 76 weeks, amounted to a reduction in rate of about 60%, and could be recognized without any false alarms. That is, the anomaly was unique within the 60 km study segment of the fault and in the years 1975 through August 1982. Eighteen foreshocks occurred between July 27 and August 7, 1982. We conclude that the August 1982 mainshocks could have been predicted, based on seismic quiescence and foreshocks.     

Precursory seismic quiescence: A preliminary assessment of the hypothesis

Numerous cases of precursory seismic quiescence have been reported in recent years. Some investigators have interpreted these observations as evidence that seismic quiescence is a somewhat reliable precursor to moderate or large earthquakes. However, because failures of the pattern to predict earthquakes may not, in general, be reported, and because numerous earthquakes are not preceded by quiescence, the validity and reliability of the quiescence precursor have not been established.We have analyzed the seismicity rate prior to, and in the source region of, 37 shallow earthquakes (M 5.3–7.0) in central California and Japan for patterns of rate fluctuation, especially precursory quiescence. Nonuniformity in rate for these pre-mainshock sequences is relatively high, and numerous intervals with significant (p<0.10) extrema in rate are observed in some of the sequences. In other sequences, however, the rate remains within normal limits up to the time of the mainshock. Overall, in terms of an observational basis for intermediate-term earthquake prediction, no evidence is found in the cases studied for a systematic, widespread or reliable pattern of quiescence prior to the mainshocks.In earthquake sequences comprising full seismic cycles for 5 sets of (M 3.7–5.1) repeat earthquakes on the San Andreas fault near Bear Valley, California, the seismicity rates are found to be uniform. A composite of the estimated rate fluctuations for the sequences, normalized to the length of the seismic cycle, reveals a weak pattern of a low rate in the first third of the cycle, and a high rate in the last few months. While these observations are qualitative, they may represent weak expressions of physical processes occurring in the source region over the seismic cycle.Re-examination of seismicity rate fluctuations in volumes along the creeping section of the San Andreas fault specified by Wyss and Burford (1985) qualitatively confirms the existence of low-rate intervals in volumes 361, 386, 382, 372 and 401. However, only the quiescence in volume 386 is found by the present study to be statistically significant.     

Analysis on the Characteristics of the Kalpin MS5.3 Earthquake Sequence of December 1, 2013 and Anomalies before the Earthquake

This paper introduces the basic parameters, focal mechanism solutions and earthquake sequence characteristics of the Kalpin M_S5.3 earthquake sequence of December 1, 2013, and analyzed seismic activity before the earthquake, the adjacent tectonic features and the precursory anomaly at fixed points within a range of 200km. Research indicates:(1) The earthquake occurred on Kalpin fault, the source rupture type is thrust faulting with sinistral strike-slip component. (2) The earthquake sequence is mainshock-aftershock type, with the aftershock distribution attenuating quickly and trending NE. (3) Abnormal seismic activity before the earthquake was characterized by seismically nesting quiescence of M_S2.0-4.0 earthquakes, seismic quiescence of M_S4.0 earthquakes and seismic belts of M_S3.0 earthquakes in the Kalpin block, abnormal enhancement zone of moderate earthquakes on Puchang fault and seismological parameters. (4) Anomalies of precursory observation data at fixed stations are mainly characterized by mutation. Apart from the borehole tiltmeter in Halajun, the spatial distribution of other abnormal precursors showed a phenomenon of migration from the near field to far field and from the epicenter to the peripheries.     

Precursory seismic quiescence: Past,present, and future

Precursory seismic quiescence has played a major role in most of the succesful earthquake predictions made to date. In addition to these successes, the number of detailed post-mainshock documentations of precursory quiescence is steadily growing. These facts suggest that precursory quiescence will play an important role in earthquake prediction programs of the future. For this reason it is important to critically evaluate the present state of knowledge concerning this phenomenon. The history of observations of precursory seismic quiescence includes work on seismic gaps and seismic preconditions as well as actual studies of temporal quiescence. These papers demonstrated the importance of quantitative evaluation of seismicity rates and the benefits of systematic analysis. During the early 1980's the impact of man-made effects on seismicity rates was demonstrated for the first time. Despite progress in catalog understanding, the identification and correction of man-made seismicity changes remains as the major barrier to earthquake prediction using these data. Effects of man-made changes are apparent in many past studies of seismicity patterns, making the results difficult to evaluate. Recent experience with real-time anomalies has demonstrated the necessity of determining the false alarm rates associated with quiescence precursors. Determination of false alarm rates depends on quantitative definitions of anomalies and statistical evaluations of their significance. A number of successful predictions, which have been made on the basis of seismic quiescence, provide important lessons for present and future work. There are many presently unanswered questions regarding seismic quiescence which must be answered before we can determine the reliability of this phenomena as a precursor.     

A sequence of seismic activity in the Kanto area precursory to the 1923 Kanto earthquake

The Kanto earthquake (M=7.9) that occurred along the Sagami Trough in the Sagami Bay on 1 September 1923 was one of the most disastrous earthquakes in Japanese history. The Kanto area includes Metropolitan Tokyo and Yokohama which are densely populated, and hence it has been a matter of great concern, from the viewpoints of earthquake prediction and disaster prevention, whether or not the 1923 Kanto earthquake was preceded by precursory seismicity. A study using the most complete lists of earthquakes catalogued recently by Utsu and the Japan Meteorological Agency reveals that seismic activity in the Kanto area was appreciably higher before and after the Kanto earthquake, and that the Kanto earthquake was preceded by a sequence of anomalous seismic activity, quiescence, and foreshocks. Such higher activity before and after the Kanto earthquake is contrasted with low seismicity during the recent 30-year period. A model is proposed to explain the precursory seismic activity, subsequent quiescence, and foreshocks for the Kanto earthquake. In the model, the transition from precursory seismic activity to quiescence is ascribed to time-dependent fracture due to stress-aided corrosion. Foreshocks are related to an acceleration of premonitory slip shortly before the mainshock slip.     

Characteristics of seismic activity before the MS8.0 Wenchuan earthquake

The characteristics of spatio-temporal seismicity evolution before the Wenchuan earthquake are studied. The results mainly involve in the trend abnormal features and its relation to the Wenchuan earthquake. The western Chinese mainland and its adjacent area has been in the seismically active period since 2001, while the seismic activity shows the obvious quiescence of M≥?7.0, M≥?6.0 and M?≥5.0 earthquakes in Chinese mainland. A quiescence area with M?≥7.0 has been formed in the middle of the North-South seismic zone since 1988, and the Wenchuan earthquake occurred just within this area. There are a background seismicity gap of M?≥5.0 earthquakes and a seismogenic gap of M_L?≥4.0 earthquakes in the area of Longmenshan fault zone and its vicinity prior to the Wenchuan earthquake. The seismic activity obviously strengthened and a doughnut-shape pattern of M?≥4.6 earthquakes is formed in the middle and southern part of the North-South seismic zone after the 2003 Dayao, Yunnan, earthquake. Sichuan and its vicinity in the middle of the doughnut-shape pattern show abnormal quiescence. At the same time, the seismicity of earthquake swarms is significant and shows heterogeneity in the temporal and spatial process. A swarm gap appears in the M4.6 seismically quiet area, and the Wenchuan earthquake occurred just on the margin of the gap. In addition, in the short term before the Wenchuan earthquake, the quiescence of earthquake with M_L≥?4.0 appears in Qinghai-Tibet block and a seismic belt of M_L?≥3.0 earthquakes, with NW striking and oblique with Longmenshan fault zone, is formed.     

玛多7.4级地震和门源6.9级地震前佐署地下流体异常特征分析

2021年5月22日青海玛多发生了M_S7.4地震,该次地震打破了中国大陆长时间的7级地震平静,随后在2022年1月8日发生青海门源M_S6.9地震,分析这两次地震前的前兆异常变化对于青藏高原强震孕震过程和强震短临跟踪具有重要意义。通过对两次地震前青海西宁佐署地震台地下流体异常变化特征、同震响应和震后效应特征分析,发现：佐署动水位异常在2021年2月25日和2021年8月25日出现突降异常变化,较好地对应了玛多M_S7.4和门源M_S6.9地震;佐署动水位、水温在2021年7月10日同步出现的趋势性转折异常对门源M_S6.9地震有一定的时空指示意义。佐署台作为构造敏感点,其地下流体异常变化对青海及邻区次级块体上强震具有较好的短期指示意义。     

An empirical earthquake prediction model

We have monitored seismic activity induced by impoundment of Lake Jocassee in northwest South Carolina for about two years. Low-level shallow activity was recorded. The larger felt events (2.0 ? M_L ? 2.6) were found to be associated with precursory changes in one or more of the following; number of events, t_S/t_p ratio values and radon concentrations in groundwater.The microearthquakes in the precursory period were accurately located in time and space, and their location pattern was used to develop an empirical earthquake prediction model.The precursory period consists of two phases; α-phase or a period of slow (or no) increase in seismicity, and β-phase, a period when the activity increase is more rapid. The main shock was found to be located within a cluster, a “target” area defined by the location of events in the β-phase. There is a general absence of seismic activity in the “target” area in the α-phase. The main shock occurred soon after a period of quiescence in the seismic activity in the β-phase. The magnitude of the shock, M_L is given by: M_L = 2 log D ? 0.07, where D is the duration of the precursory period in days.The model was successfully tested with data for a magnitude 2.3 event on February 23, 1977 which was also accompanied by radon and t_s/t_p anomalies.     

河北应变固体潮汐参数及震例研究

选取河北省5个形变台站的观测资料,利用Venedikov调和分析法计算河北省境内M_S4.0以上的潮汐因子、相位等参数,发现应变潮汐因子对地震都有多则半年,少则几周的异常期。宽城台对河北省境内发生M_S4.0以上的地震中,震中距较其他台站最近(震中距最远为350km、最近为100km),资料较好,故在综合分析河北应变台站的基础上,重点选取宽城台的应变潮汐因子对河北2005—2015年地震案例进行简要分析,发现该台对地震的对应率达到60%,虚报率40%,漏报率极低只有14%,前兆异常可信度较高,可作为前兆异常的参考。     

Regression analysis of reported earthquake precursors. I. Presentation of data

Around 700 reported precursors of about 350 earthquakes, including the negative observations, have been compiled in 11 categories with 31 subdivisions. The data base is subjected to an initial sorting and screening by imposing three restrictions on the ranges of main shock magnitude (M≥4.0), precursory time (t≤20 years), and the epicentral distance of observation points (X _m≤4.10^0.3M ). Of the 31 subcategories of precursory phenomena, 18 with 9 data points or more are independently studied by regressing their precursory times against magnitude. The preliminary results tend to classify the precursors into three groups:

1. The precursors which show weak or no correlation between time and the magnitude of the eventual main shock. Examples of this group are foreshocks and precursory tilt.
2. The precursors which show clear scaling with magnitude. These include seismic velocity ratio (V _p/V_s), travel time delay, duration of seismic quiescence, and, to some degree, the variation ofb-value, and anomalous seismicity.
3. The precursors which display clustering of precursory times around a mean value, which differs for different precursors from a few hours to a few years. Examples include the conductivity rate, geoelectric current and potential, strain, water well level, geochemical anomalies, change of focal mechanism, and the enhancement of seismicity reported only for larger earthquakes. Some of the precursors in this category, such as leveling changes and the occurrence of microseismicity, show bimodal patterns of precursory times and may partially be coseismic.

In addition, each category with a sufficient number of reported estimates of distance and signal amplitude is subjected to multiple linear regression. The usefulness of these regressions at this stage appears to be limited to specifying which of the parameters shows a more significant correlation. Standard deviations of residuals of precursory time against magnitude are generally reduced when observation distance enters as a second independent variable. The effect is more pronounced for water well level and conductivity rate changes. While a substantial portion of the data seem to suffer from personal bias, hence should be regarded as noise, the observations of a number of strain sensitive phenomena such as strain, water well level, and conductivity rate changes, appear to be internally more consistent. For instance, their precursory times suggest a scaling relationship with the strain energy surface density associated with the main shock. The scaling is not identical for all three phenomena so that they may constitute the imminent, short- and intermediate-term manifestation of the same process, i.e. strain loading, respectively.     

华北地区中强以上地震与前兆震群的相关分析

应用“八五”攻关推广的有关震群参数计算的软件 ,对华北地区 (33°～ 43°N,1 1 4°～ 1 2 4°E)自 1 970年以来所发生的 40次震群事件的各项参数 (b,U,H,K,F,ρ等值 )进行了计算 ,旨在依据前兆震群的判定指标 ,寻找前兆震群与中强以上地震 (MS≥ 434)的对应关系。结果表明 ,无论是单项指标或综合指标的报准率均在 65%左右 ,仅有个别达到 75%以上 ,并且有约30 %具有前兆意义的震群属于漏报和虚报。所以 ,如何判定前兆震群和充分利用前兆震群预报地震和监视未来地震活动有待更深入的研究和探讨。     

Current seismic quiescence in Greece: Implications for seismic hazard

Based on previous observations of the phenomenon of precursory seismic quiescence before crustal main shocks and recent results that indicate an increase in the occurrence of main shocks in the next years, we focus this study on the detection of the seismic quiescence situation in Greece in the beginning of 1999. We use the declustered seismicity catalogue of the Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens (NOA) from 1968–1998, to investigate the significance of seismic quiescence for the region 19^°–29^°E and 34^°–42^°N. We searched for seismicity rate changes at every node of the grid by a moving time window and we present the results for the beginning of 1999. The results map four (4) areas having a quiescence which duration ranges from 3.8 to6 years in the beginning of 1999. Three of these areas have been devestated by catastrophic earthquakes 17–21 years ago and significant quiescence also preceded those main shocks. Based on these results, an estimate of the future seismic hazard of these areas is made.     

Two categories of earthquake precursors,physical and tectonic,and their roles in intermediate-term earthquake prediction

I suggest that earthquake precursors can be divided into two major categories, physical and tectonic. I define physical precursor to be a direct or indirect indication of initiation or progression of an irreversible rupture-generating physical process within the preparation zone of a forthcoming earthquake. Tectonic precursor is defined as a manifestation of tectonic movement which takes place outside the preparation zone of an impending earthquake as a link in a chain of particular local tectonism in each individual area preceding the earthquake.Most intermediate-term, short-term and immediate precursors of various disciplines within the source regions of main shocks are considered physical ones. Some precursory crustal deformations around the source regions are, however, possibly tectonic precursors, because they may be caused by episodic plate motions or resultant block movements in the neighboring regions of the fault segments that will break. A possible example of this phenomena is the anomalous crustal uplift in the Izu Peninsula, Japan, before the 1978 Izu-Oshima earthquake ofM _s 6.8. Some precursory changes in seismicity patterns in wide areas surrounding source regions also seem to be tectonic precursors, because they were probably caused by the particular tectonic setting of each region. A typical example is a so-called doughnut pattern before the 1923 Kanto, Japan, earthquake ofM _s 8.2.Although most studies on earthquake precursors so far seem to regard implicitly all precursory phenomena observed as physical ones, the two categories should be distinguished carefully when statistical analysis or physical modeling is carried out based on reported precursory phenomena. In active plate boundary zones, where a practical strategy for earthquake prediction may well be different from that in intraplate regions, tectonic precursors can be powerful additional tools for intermediate-term earthquake prediction.     

2017年九寨沟7.0级地震前不同级别地震空区的演化过程分析

结合传统地震学方法与数字地震学方法,回顾总结了日常分析预报中针对九寨沟7.0级地震开展的相关工作,梳理总结了地震前提出的甘东南地震异常信息,进一步讨论了九寨沟地震前中期、短期及临震异常特征。通过分析九寨沟7.0级地震之前区域范围内不同震级活动图像,发现甘青川交界地区5级空区在震前向震中一侧收缩、4级地震超长平静458天、3级空区在震前4天被打破的现象,同时发现,震中附近区域震源机制一致性较高,反映了震源区的高应力水平。     

Precursory Seismic Quiescence before the 1994 Kurile Earthquake (Mw = 8.3) Revealed by Three Independent Seismic Catalogs

—We have found that the M _w = 8.3 Kurile earthquake on October 4, 1994 followed an outstanding seismic quiescence starting 5–6 years before the mainshock near the ruptured area. We have analyzed three independent seismic catalogs Institute of Seismology and Volcanology, Hokkaido University (ISV), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and International Seismology Center (ISC). In spite of selecting different magnitude bands and time windows all three catalogs presented the common feature of the seismic quiescence. This fact strongly suggests that the seismic quiescence should not be a man-made change but actually occurred. Moreover we have confirmed that the seismic quiescence was the most significant and the earthquake was the largest in the past twenty-five years in this region. Therefore we confidently interpret this seismic quiescence as an indication of a preparation process for the M _w = 8.3 Kurile earthquake.     

Seismic quiescence precursory to a past and a future Kurile island earthquake

A systematic search was made for seismicity rate changes in the segment of the Kurile island arc from 45°N to 53°N by studying the cumulative seismicity of shallow (h100 km) earthquakes within 11 overlapping volumes of radius 100 km for the time period 1960 through beginning of 1978. We found that in most parts of this island arc and most of the time the seismicity rate as obtained from the NOAA catalogue and not excluding any events is fairly constant except for increased seismicity in the mid 1960s in the southern portion due to the great 1963 mainshock there, and for seismicity quiescence during part of the time period studied within two well defined sections of the arc. The first of these is a volume of 100 km radius around a 1973 (M _s =7.3) mainshock within which the seismicity rate was demonstrated at the 99% confidence level to have been lower by 50% during 2100 days (5.75 years) before this mainshock. The second volume of seismic quiescence coincides with the 400 km long north Kuriles gap. In this gap the seismicity rate is shown (at the 99% confidence level) to be lower by 50% from 1967 to present (1978), in comparison with the rate within the gap befor 1967, as well as with the rate surrounding the gap. We propose that the anomalously low seismicity rate within the Kuriles gap is a precursor to a great earthquake, the occurrence time of which was estimated by the following preliminary relation between precursory quiescence time and source dimensionT=190L ^0.545. We predict that an earthquake with source length of 200–400 km (M>8) will occur along the north Kurile island arc between latitude 45.5°N and 49.2°N at a time between now and 1994.     

四川九寨沟7.0级地震中长期预测的回顾认识

回顾了2013年郭增建提出的基于地震活动性的"静中动"和后期与作者共同发展的"准静中动"方法,以1987年1月8日在甘肃南部迭部县发生的5.9级地震作为标志性的"准静中动"地震,结合国家地震局在1989年综合划定的1990—2000年南北地震带10年地震危险区,用中长期预测的时间尺度,指出了南北地震带北段三个未来可能发生6~7级地震的地区,其中一个就是四川省九寨沟地区。回顾分析中对"静中动"方法预测效能、存在的问题及一些中长期预测的问题进行讨论,得到两点认识:一是通过这次地震的再次验证,证明"静中动"方法是一种可行的预测地震的独立指标方法,在验证的基础上对该方法进行了优化认识;二是基于"静中动"方法与南北地震带北段10年地震危险区对应地震较为准确的启发,初步认为前兆可以划分为平静期的前兆与活跃期的前兆,而前者可能对于地震的预测意义更大,未来可以沿这一思路开展进一步的论证和研究。     

Seismicity anomalies before the great earth—quake of Ms=8.1 in the Kunlun Pass and its significance to earthquake prediction

A great earthquake of M _S=8.1 took place in the west of Kunlun Pass on November 14, 2001. The epicenter is located at 36.2°N and 90.9°E. The analysis shows that some main precursory seismic patterns appear before the great earthquake, e.g., seismic gap, seismic band, increased activity, seismicity quiet and swarm activity. The evolution of the seismic patterns before the earthquake of M _S=8.1 exhibits a course very similar to that found for earthquake cases with M _S≥7. The difference is that anomalous seismicity before the earthquake of M _S=8.1 involves in the larger area coverage and higher seismic magnitude. This provides an evidence for recognizing precursor and forecasting of very large earthquake. Finally, we review the rough prediction of the great earthquake and discuss some problems related to the prediction of great earthquakes.     

Similarity of two Liyang earthquakes

Two moderate earthquakes of magnitudesM _s=5.5 and 6.0 occurred in 1974 and 1979, respectively, in the Liyang region, Jiangsu Province, China. The distance between the two epicenters is less than 20 km and their source mechanisms are very similar. In comparing these two earthquakes, we notice that the similarity of coseismic effects is consistent with a scaling law. The isoseismals of the two earthquakes resemble each other in overall shape but the difference of intensity between pairs of coincident isoseismals is one degree. The precursory seismicity patterns of the two events, such as seismic gaps and preshock swarms, are similar, but do not scale to magnitudes of mainshock. The latter phenomenon may reflect the regional tectonic structure, assuming the entire region to be subjected to the same stress.     

Recent reliable observations and improved tests on synthetic catalogs with spatiotemporal clustering verify precursory decelerating–accelerating seismicity

We examined the seismic activity which preceded six strong mainshocks that occurred in the Aegean (M?=?6.4–6.9, 33–43° N, 19–28° E) and two strong mainshocks that occurred in California (M?=?6.5–7.1, 32–41° N, 115–125° W) during 1995–2010. We find that each of these eight mainshocks has been preceded by a pronounced decelerating and an equally easily identifiable accelerating seismic sequence with the time to the mainshock. The two preshock sequences of each mainshock occurred in separate space, time, and magnitude windows. In all eight cases, very low decelerating seismicity, as well as very low accelerating seismicity, is observed around the actual epicenter of the ensuing mainshock. Statistical tests on the observed measures of decelerating, q _d, and accelerating, q _a, seismicity against similar measures calculated using synthetic catalogs with spatiotemporal clustering based on the ETAS model show that there is an almost zero probability for each one of the two preshock sequences which preceded each of the eight mainshocks to be random. These results support the notion that every strong shallow mainshock is preceded by a decelerating and an accelerating seismic sequence with predictive properties for the ensuing mainshock.