Luni-solar 18.6-year signal in tree-rings from Argentina and Chile

Spectrum analysis of 32 tree-ring chronologies from Argentina and Chile yields evidence for two peaks with periods 19.2±1.6 years (30 out of 32 records) and 10.5±0.4 years in 22 instances. Tests by thet-statistic show that the long-period peak is significant at a confidence level of 99%. This signal is identified as the luni-solar 18.6-year M _n term reported earlier byCurrie (1983) in two treering chronologies from the same region, and later in tree-rings from North America, Tasmania, New Zealand, and South Africa (Currie, 1991a-c). Amplitude and phase of the M _n signal are nonstationary with respect to both time and geography. In particular, abrupt 180° phase changes in wave polarity are often observed.     

A semi-empirical method for predicting hydrological drought magnitudes in the Canadian prairies

Abstract

A hydrological drought magnitude (M _T ) expressed in standardized terms is predicted on annual, monthly and weekly time scales for a sampling period of T years in streamflow data from the Canadian prairies. The drought episodes are considered to follow the Poisson law of probability and, when coupled with the gamma probability distribution function (pdf) of drought magnitude (M) in the extreme number theorem, culminate in a relationship capable of evaluating the expected value, E(M _T ). The parameters of the underlying pdf of M are determined based on the assumption that the drought intensity follows a truncated normal pdf. The E(M _T ) can be evaluated using only standard deviation (σ), lag-1 autocorrelation (ρ) of the standardized hydrological index (SHI) sequence, and a weighting parameter Φ (ranging from 0 to 1) to account for the extreme drought duration (L _T ), as well as the mean drought duration (L_m ), in a characteristic drought length (L_c ). The SHI is treated as standard normal variate, equivalent to the commonly-used standardized precipitation index. A closed-form relationship can be used for the estimation of first-order conditional probabilities, which can also be estimated from historical streamflow records. For all rivers, at the annual time scale, the value of Φ was found equal to 0.5, but it tends to vary (in the range 0 to 1) from river to river at monthly and weekly time scales. However, for a particular river, the Φ value was nearly constant at monthly and weekly time scales. The proposed method estimates E(M _T ) satisfactorily comparable to the observed counterpart. At the annual time scale, the assumption of a normal pdf for drought magnitude tends to yield results in close proximity to that of a gamma pdf. The M _T , when transformed into deficit-volume, can form a basis for designing water storage facilities and for planning water management strategies during drought periods.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor C. Onof

Citation Sharma, T.C. and Panu, U.S., 2013. A semi-empirical method for predicting hydrological drought magnitudes in the Canadian prairies. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (3), 549–569.     

Investigation of rupture process of the 1999 M =5.4 Xiuyan, Liaoning, earthquake sequence

Conclusions The sequence of the November 29, 1999 Xiuyan, Liaoning, earthquake withM _S=5.4 is relocated, and its rupture process is analyzed. Results are as follows: The rupture extended mainly before the January 12, 2000,M _S=5.1 earthquake. There are two phases of rupture extending: The first phase was before the November 29, 1999,M _S=5.4 earthquake, epicenters were situated within a small region with a dimension of about 5 km, and the focal depth increased. It shows that the rupture mainly extended from shallow part to deep in the vertical direction. The second phase was between theM _S=5.4 earthquake and theM _S=5.1 earthquake, earthquakes migrated along southeast, the focal depth decreased. It indicates that the rupture extended along southeast and from deep to shallow part. Foundation item: The Project of “Mechanism and Prediction of the Strong Continental Earthquake” (95-13-05-04). Contribution No. 01FE2017, Institute of Geophysics, China Seismological Bureau.     

Geomagnetic diurnal-variation anomalies and their relation to strong earthquakes

The diurnal-variation anomalies of the vertical-component in geomagnetic field are mainly the changes of phase and amplitude before strong earthquakes. On the basis of data recorded by the network of geomagnetic observatories in China for many years, the anomalous features of appearance time of the minima of diurnal variations (i.e, low-point time) of the geomagnetic vertical components and the variation of their spatial distribution (i.e, phenomena of low-point displacement) have been studied before over 30 strong earthquakes with M _S≥6.6 such as Kunlunshan M _S=8.1 earthquake on November 14, 2001; Bachu-Jashi M _S=6.8 earthquake on February 24, 2003; Xiaojin M _S=6.6 earthquake on September 22, 1989, etc. There are good relations between such rare phenomena of geomagnetic anomalies and the occurrence of earthquakes. It has been found that most earthquakes occur in the vicinity of the boundary line of sudden change of the low-point displacement and generally within four days before and after the 27th or 41st day counting from the day of appearance of the anomaly. In addition, the anomalies of diurnal-variation amplitude near the epicentral area have been also studied before Kunlunshan M _S=8.1 earthquake and Bachu-Jiashi M _S=6.8 earthquake. Foundation item: National Science Technology Tackle Key Project during the Tenth Five-year Plan (2001BA601B01-05-04)     

Seismic Hazard in Terms of Spectral Accelerations and Uniform Hazard Spectra in Northern Algeria

Seismic hazard in terms of spectral acceleration (SA) has been estimated for the first time in northern Algeria. For this purpose, we have used the spatially-smoothed seismicity approach. The present paper is intended to be a continuation of previous work in which we have evaluated the seismic hazard in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA) using the same methodology. To perform these evaluations, four complete and Poissonian seismic models have been used. One of them considers earthquakes with magnitudes above M_S 6.5 in the last 300 years, that is, the most energetic seismicity in the region. Firstly, seismic hazard maps in terms of SA, at periods of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 sec, with 39.3% and 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years, have been obtained. Therefore, uniform hazard spectra (UHS) are computed and examined in detail for twelve of the most industrial and populated cities in northern Algeria. All the reported results in this study are for rock soil and 5% of damping. It is noteworthy that, in the seismic hazard maps as well as in the UHS plots, we observe maximum SA values in the central area of the Tell. The higher values are reached in the Chleff region (previously El Asnam), specifically around the location of the destructive earthquakes of September 9, 1954 (M_S 6.8), and October 10, 1980 (M_S 7.3). These maximum values, 0.4 g and 1.0 g, are associated with periods of about 0.2 and 0.3 sec for return periods of 100 and 475 years, respectively.     

2016年安徽无为MS3.0震群序列发震构造与震后趋势研究

首先通过模板匹配方法检测无为震群活动期间目录遗漏的地震事件,共识别出5次遗漏地震事件,震级为M_L0.5～1.2,得到了更为完整的地震目录;然后基于波形互相关震相检测技术标定震相到时,进而采用双差定位方法进行精定位,精定位后震群分布更加集中,未见明显的优势方位分布;采用Snoke方法计算震级较大地震的震源机制,结果表明,此次震群为NEE向的水平挤压与NNE向的水平拉张应力场作用下具逆冲分量的走滑型地震活动,严家桥-枫沙湖断裂可能为其发震构造;最后,计算了震群序列的视应力,结果显示,视应力和扣除震级影响后的差视应力随着震群序列的衰减逐渐恢复,因此,分析认为,随着无为震群序列的衰减,震源区发生更大地震的可能性不大。     

新疆北天山艾其沟泥火山强震前显著喷涌现象及其变化机理分析

泥火山形成于特定的水文地质及构造环境,其喷发活动是内部大量气体聚集引起异常高压的一种释放,可以将大量地下信息携带到地表,被称为"天赐钻井"。新疆乌苏艾其沟泥火山实时观测始于2011年8月,自观测以来,在其周围200m范围内,共发生了4次6级以上地震,分别是2011年11月1日新疆尼勒克M_S6.0、2012年6月30日新疆新源M_S6.6、2016年12月8日新疆呼图壁县M_S6.2及2017年8月9日精河M_S6.6地震。在4次地震前后,艾其沟泥火山喷发活动均出现了"背景值—上升—转折—下降—背景值"的宏观异常变化现象,地震则发生在泥火山喷发活动由强到弱的过程中,尤其是在2017年精河M_S6.6地震时,乌苏艾其沟泥火山的喷发活动异常变化现象为新疆地震局做出震情形势判定提供了一部分依据,具有一定的减灾实效。     

The Study on Seismicity and Relocation of the July 3,2015 Pishan MS6.5 Earthquake

The July 3, 2015 Pishan M_S6.5 earthquake occurred in the intersection area of the Tarim block and West Kunlun block where the moderate-strong earthquakes have become active in recent years. This paper has studied the seismicity parameters of the earthquake sequences such as the b-value in the Pishan region and its vicinity. In addition, we also relocated the aftershocks of the Pishan M_S6.5 earthquake using the seismic phase report by the double-difference method. The temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the Pishan earthquake sequence in the rupture zone are analyzed. The study is of great significance in the seismic hazard assessment in this region.     

2017年四川九寨沟7.0级地震前地震应变场分析

以地震应变场作为地震活动的变量,通过自然正交函数展开方法,计算2017年8月8日四川九寨沟7.0级地震前的地震应变场,提取出震前时间因子的异常变化。计算结果发现应变场前4个时间因子在震前1~3年的中短期异常并不显著,只有第2个和第4个时间因子震前有小幅度的异常变化,分析其原因,时间因子可能受到2008年汶川8.0级地震和2013年岷县漳县6.6级地震前大幅度异常的影响。与时间因子对应的空间等值线形成局部应变高值异常危险区,可能是2013年岷县漳县6.6级地震和2017年九寨沟7.0级地震空间异常的中短期特征。再对比九寨沟7.0级地震前后与松潘-平武7.2级双震的空间异常随时间演变,分析异常发展变化模式的差异,最后应用地震资料的累积频次从物理角度解释异常形成的机制。     

Short-term and imminent geomagnetic anomalies of the Wenchuan MS8.0 earthquake and exploration on earthquake forecast

The diurnal variation of the geomagnetic vertical component is exhibited mainly by changes of phase and amplitude before strong earthquakes. Based on data recorded by the network of geomagnetic observatories in China for many years, the anomalous features of the appearance time of the minima of diurnal variations (i.e, low-point time) of the geomagnetic vertical components and the variation of their spatial distribution (i.e, phenomena of low-point displacement) have been studied before the Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake. The strong aftershocks after two months' quiescence of M6 aftershocks of the M_S8.0 event were forecasted based on these studies. There are good correlativities between these geomagnetic anomalies and occurrences of earthquakes. It has been found that most earthquakes occur near the boundary line of sudden changes of the low-point time and generally within four days before or after the 27th or 41st day counting from the day of the appearance of the anomaly. In addition, the imminent anomalies in diurnal-variation amplitudes near the epicentral areas have also been studied before the Wenchuan earthquake.     

Dependence of coda attenuation on frequency and lapse time in central Greece

The dependence of coda attenuationQ _c on frequency and lapse time was studied. Data from small local earthquakes, recorded at three stations (VMR, VSI and VFI) of the VOLNET network operating in central Greece, were used.Q _c was estimated by applying the single scattering model to bandpass-filtered seismograms, over a frequency range of 1 to 12 Hz. Analysis was performed every 10 s until the end on overlapping time windows.Q _c is found to depend on frequencyf in Hz according to a power law,Q _c =Q ₀ f ⁿ . ObservedQ ₀ ranges from 30 to 100 and the powern ranges from 0.90 to 0.70.Q ₀ increases andn decreases with lapse time increasing. A strong dependence ofQ _c on lapse time was also found. In the frequency range of 1 to 8 Hz and at a short lapse time,Q _c values were found to be similar for all three stations. On the other hand, at the longest analyzed time window (50 s), the estimatedQ _c values show a discrepancy which is more obvious at a higher frequency band. The scattering coefficient around the central station VSI is found to range from 0.029 to 0.0041 km^–1.Q _c from the single scattering model andQ _s from the amplitude ratio of directS to coda waves for the VSI station are similar. We believe dependence of coda attenuationQ _c on frequency and lapse time is caused by a combination of geotectonic features and depth variation asQ _s .     

Earth's rotation-triggered earthquakes before the 2018 MS5.7 Xingwen earthquake

For earthquakes (M_L≥2.0) that occurred from January 2006 to October 2018 around the M_S5.7 Xingwen earthquake occurred on 16 December 2018 in Xingwen, Sichuan province, China, we statistically investigated the correlation between the phase of Earth's rotation and the occurrence of earthquakes via Schuster's test to determine the signals that triggered earthquakes before the M_S5.7 Xingwen event. The results were evaluated based on the P-value where a smaller P-value corresponded to a higher correlation between the occurrence of an earthquake and Earth's rotation. We investigated the spatial distribution of P-values in the region around the epicenter of the M_S5.7 Xingwen event, and obtained a result exhibiting a extremely low-P-value region. The M_S5.7 event occurred inside near the northern boundary of this region. Furthermore, we analyzed the temporal evolution of P-values for earthquakes that occurred within the extremely low-P-value region and found that some extremely low P-values (less that 0.1%), i.e., significant correlation, were calculated for earthquakes that occurred before the M_S5.7 Xingwen earthquake. Among sixty-one earthquakes with the lowest P-value, occurred from May 2014 to April 2018, a vast majority of them occurred during the acceleration of Earth's rotation. The lower P-value obtained in this study reveals that the Xingwen source body probably was extremely unstable prior to the occurrence of the M_S5.7 Xingwen earthquake.     

四川荣县MS4.7、MS4.3、MS4.9地震房屋震害特征和人员伤亡分析

根据四川荣县M_S4.7、M_S4.3、M_S4.9地震现场灾害调查资料,分析房屋震害特征和人员伤亡情况,结果表明震区房屋破坏类型主要为砖混结构、砖木结构和土木结构,其中砖木结构和土木结构受损比较严重,人员伤亡主要由房屋损坏导致;造成此现象的原因主要是该地区房屋建造年代久远,房屋结构不合理、抗震性能差,短时间地震频发造成震害累积,再加上民众防震减灾意识薄弱等。     

Comparative Study of Changes in Stress-drop of the Jinggu MS6.6 and Ludian MS6.5 Earthquake Sequences

The earthquake stress-drop values of two sequences were accurately calculated after taking away the effects due to regional earthquake anelastic attenuation and station site response, using waveform data and seismic phase data of sequences of the Jinggu M_S6.6, and Ludian M_S6.5 earthquakes in Yunnan. These results show that the stress drop with magnitude increases within the scope of this study of magnitude. After eliminating the influence of the magnitude, the average value of stress-drop in the Jinggu sequence is higher than that of the Ludian sequence at the same magnitude range. This may be related to the stress state in different regions. In terms of the changes of time and space of stress-drop, before M_S5.8 strong aftershock, the stress-drop is "slowing down-turning up-keeping a high value" after the mainshock, meanwhile, almost all of the abnormally high stress drop value is distributed around the M_S5.8 strong aftershock, showing that the stress environment in the region was increasing after the mainshock. And after the M_S5.9 strong aftershock, stress-drop rapidly declines to a relatively stable state, meanwhile, the high value of stress-drop is distributed around the strong aftershock, showing that the regional tectonic stress gets more fully release, its stress environment begins to rapidly decrease. For the Ludian sequence without a strong aftershock occurring, the average value of stress drop is lower than that of the Jinggu earthquake sequence at the same magnitude range, while at the same time, the stress-drop of the aftershock sequence almost hasn''t changed much. In the time after the mainshock, combined with the release characteristics of the main energy, the stress in the region is excessively released, the subsequent stress in the region gradually returns to normal. This may be the reason why the activity of Ludian aftershocks significantly was weaker and subsequently there were no strong aftershocks occurred.     

On the relation of moderate-short term anomaly of earth resistivity to earthquake

IntroductionMany anomalies due to earthquake have been recorded in observation of earth-resistivity for30 years and over, which showed that there objectively existed the anomalies of each-resistivity.The crustal strUcture and medium conditions are quite complex, so the complexity of the temporal,spatial and intensive development of the anomalies is inevitable. Both of time and amplitUde ofanomalies among some stations near an epicenter are different (even among different observational directi…     

云南地区GNSS应变场时空演化与地震事件关联分析

采用GAMIT/GLOBK软件对云南境内及邻区近400个GNSS测点1999～2018年的观测数据进行解算,在各个测点时间序列和速度场的基础上,采用克里金插值方法分时段估计该区域在1999～2004年、2004～2007年、2009～2013年、2013～2015年、2015～2018年共计5个时间区域应变率场;根据区域地壳面应变率和最大剪应变率的空间变化以及相应时段之后3年内的MS≥5. 0地震事件分布特征,分析发现:绝大部分震例发生在面应变高梯度带的张压转换区和最大剪应变高值区,可见研究区各个观测时段GNSS应变率场对后期1～3年内的中强震发生区域有一定的指示意义;以2014年盈江6. 1级、鲁甸6. 5级和景谷6. 6级地震为样本,建立监视块体获取应变时间序列,分析发现:地震前三个月左右均出现震中附近短期应变趋势改变、快速增强、转折的现象,这些形变异常变化或许反映了发震区应力-应变积累在接近临界破裂状态时的非线性调整,为地震短临预测尤其是时间要素的判断提供参考。     

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.     

Using Airgun Source Signals to Study Regional Wave Velocity Changes before and after the Yunlong MS5.0 and Yangbi MS5.1 Earthquakes

On the basis of the airgun source signals recorded by the stations from January, 2016 to June, 2017, we use cross-correlation detection technology to obtain the characteristics of the stable phase travel time change of each station. We used the Yunlong M_S5.0 and Yangbi M_S5.1 earthquakes as samples. According to regional characteristics, 13 stations with high signal-to-noise ratios and complete data were selected (including 3 fixed stations and 10 active source stations). They are divided into four regions, and on the basis of the GNSS baseline data, the characteristics of regional wave velocity changes before and after the earthquake are analyzed. The results show that the station phase travel time change and the regional stress characteristics represented by the GNSS baseline data have good correlation in the short-term. Due to different degrees of regional stress, there are differences in the travel time changes of different stations in the four regions. Before the Yunlong M_S5.0 and Yangbi M_S5.1 earthquakes, with regional stress adjustment, there is an upward trend in the travel time changes of related stations in the adjacent areas of up to 0.02s. The difference is that there are differences in the time nodes and duration of the travel time anomalies, and there is a reverse descent process after the Yangbi M_S5.1 earthquake. There are different degrees of travel time fluctuations in the relevant stations before and after the two earthquakes, but the fluctuation range before and after the earthquake was small. Compared with the water level change of the reservoir, the adjustment of the regional stress is more likely to have a substantial impact on the travel time changes of the relevant stations.     

Tidal currents and residual currents at Norderney,Elbe 1, and Aussen-Eider lightships and their variation under the influence of prevailing winds

Summary Four hourly current-and wind observations during the years 1924–1927 at the German lightvessels Norderney, Elbe 1, and Aussen-Eider were subjected to harmonic analysis with emphasis on the influence of the wind on the residual as well as on the tidal current. The tidal current is strongest at Elbe 1 and weakest at Aussen-Eider. The half-monthly inequality of the current is strongly influenced by a ₂ tidal component. Wind influences the velocity, phase and duration of ebb-and flow current in a systematic way at Norderney and Elbe 1. Deviations from the mean tidal current are caused mainly by the change in wind direction rather than by wind velocity. The mean residual current is weak at the three stations. But wind driven currents have a velocity up to 5 times as great as the mean residual current and reverse their direction with the wind. The annual variation of the mean residual current, however, is caused only to a small part by the annual wind variation.Abbreviations used in this paper Gr. M. Tr. Greenwich moon transit, i.e. Greenwich civil time of the upper or lower transit of the moon through the meridian of Greenwich - C _n computed tidal current at M1/2Hn - C _n ^m computed mean tidal current at M1/2Hn - M _n Moon-half hour mean, i.e. mean of all current velocities observed during M1/2Hn - M.A. Moon age of an observation, true Greenwich time of Gr.M.Tr. directly preceeding the time of observation, expressed in 12 integral numbers, each representing M.A. falling in 12 different hourly intervals - M1/2H Moon-half hour, 1/2 of the interval between one moon transit and the next, i.e. 1/24 of 12h25m - R _n ^o ,R _n ^' ,R _n ^" residual current computed by harmonic analysis ofn M1/2H means of the mean current, the current at weak winds, and the current at strong winds respectively - d.o.f. degrees of freedom - standard deviation ofC _n fromM _n - ^* mean standard deviation ofC _n fromM _n for analysis with weighted means - A _o Standard error of the residual currentA _o - AB standard error of the harmonic coefficientsA ₁,B ₁,A ₂,B ₂,... - S ₂ Phase of the current componentS ₂