Characteristics of seismic activity before Chile M_W8.8 earthquake in 2010

The tempo-spatial variation of seismic activity before great Chile MW8.8 earthquake on February 27,2010 is studied.Some results are as follows:1 Two types of seismic gaps appeared before the Chile MW8.8 shock.One is background gap of MW≥8.0 earthquakes with 360 km length since 1900,the other is seismogenic gap formed by M≥5.5 earthquakes with 780 km length five years before the Chile earthquake;2 There was only one MW7.1 earthquake in the middle and southern part of Chile from 1986 to 2010.The obvious quiescence of MW≥7.0 earthquake is the long-term background anomaly for the Chile earthquake;3 The quiescence of M≥6.5 earthquakes appeared in South American block and its vicinity during the period from 2007 to 2009,and the quietude state has been disappeared three months before the Chile MW8.8 earthquake;4 The deep and intermediate-depth earthquake activity has been noticeablely strengthened in the subduction zone of South American block since 1993;5 The great Chile earthquake shows that global seismicity is still in the active period of MW≥8.5 earthquakes since 2004.Based on the characteristics of the former two active periods,several great earthquakes with MW≥8.5 would take place in a few years.In addition,the circum-Pacific seismic belt would be the main region for MW≥8.0 earthquakes.     

北京五里营井流体前兆观测到的两次异常及讨论

In this paper, the precursor response characteristics of digital fluid caused by the Wenchuan M8.0 and Yushu M7.1 earthquakes are studied, and the response difference of the observations of Wuliying well to the two strong earthquakes is compared. The result shows that the abnormal fluid response has a certain relationship with earthquake size and epicenter distance. The greater the earthquake, and the closer it is to the epicenter from the observatory, the more sensitive the response will be to fluid anomalies. Abnormal Helium release was first observed before both strong earthquakes in the fluid precursor observation. The release intensity is related to earthquake magnitude; the larger the magnitude, the stronger the abnormal changes. The large change in He release in a short period after the Wenchuan earthquake may be related to the continuous activity of strong aftershocks and the structural adjustment after the earthquake. Helium release increased significantly after both earthquakes, as contributed by the abnormal deep-sited Helium release. However, this process may be connected to the annual change from July to September or the hot-reservoir type gas release in the Wuliying well. In the earthquake preparation process, a large number of deep-derived Helium is released into the geothermal system and the entire composition is changed. Temporally, this gas release appears later than fault-type gas release, and the disappearance time of this anomaly is also much later. The response difference of the fluid precursor to the two strong earthquakes may be related to differences of deep structural setting and dynamic mechanism. It also shows there is a stronger correlation between Wenchuan M8.0 earthquake in the North-South Seismic Belt and North China region than the Yushu M7.1 earthquake in the internal Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Helium gas can be a sensitive indicator for monitoring abnormal deep-gas activity of the region where the observation station is located. Hence, observation and research should be strengthened in the future.     

2014年2月12日新疆于田MS7.3地震前地震活动特征分析

This paper introduces the geological structure background around the 2014 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake area, investigates and analyzes the regime of small earthquake activity and the characteristics of regional seismicity pattern in Xinjiang before the earthquake, and compares the characteristics of the regional seismic activity with the 2008 Yutian Ms7.3 earthquake. The results show： ① 2 ~ 3 years before the 2014 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, Xinjiang was in a seismic active state with strong earthquake occurring successively, and before the 2008 Ms 7. 3 earthquake, Xinjiang was in the quiet state of moderate-small earthquakes with M3. 0 ~ 4. 0. ② Before this Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, the regional seismic activity showed a short-term anomaly feature, that is, seismicity of M ≥ 5. 0 earthquakes significantly increased on the Altun seismic zone and in the source area three years before the Ms7.3 earthquake, while a five year long quiescence of seismicity of M ≥4. 0 earthquakes appeared on the east of the source area in a range of about 440kin. Six months before this M7. 3 earthquake, there existed seismic gap of M3. 0 ~ 4. 0 earthquakes and near-conjugate seismic belt magnitude 3. 0 and 4. 0 in the source area. ③ The state of strong earthquake activity and the seismicity pattern of small earthquakes before this Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake were significantly different to that before the 2008 Yutian Ms7. 3 earthquake, and this may be related to the different seismogenic environments of the two Ms7. 3 earthquakes.     

The Characteristics of Seismic Activity Before the Devastating Earthquake with M wg. 0 Off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra

The characteristics of seismic activity in different time-spatial domain before the Mw9.0 earthquake were studied. The results are as follows ： ① The activity of the deep earthquakes in the north boundary zone of the Australian plate had been evidently strengthened since 1994, showing an increased frequency, magnitude and depth, especially in regards to the heterogeneous distribution of the earthquake depth （namely between 500km and 689km）. Meanwhile the shallow earthquakes of M ≥ 7.0 in the Sumatra island and its vicinity had been obviously strengthened too, and formed a strengthening area with a length of about 1000 km and width 300 km. ②The time distribution of global strong earthquakes with M≥ 7.0 shows that the character of anomalous seismic quiescence-activity one year before the Mw9.0 earthquake and during its active period, the strong earthquakes formed a seismic belt striking in NWW direction. At the same time, there is a seismic gap formed by earthquakes of M ≥ 5.0 in the epicenter and its neighboring region. ③ Two deep earthquakes of M ≥ 7.0 occurred in the west and in the east of the north boundary zone of the Australian plate half year ago. It is notable that one of them occurred in the Sumatra island where no deep earthquake with M ③ 6.0 has occurred in the past thirty years. ④The space distribution of moderate shocks occurring three days ago exhibited a NWW-strike seismic belt along the north boundary zone of the Australian plate. ⑤The activity of volcanoes distributed in the north boundary zone of the Australian plate had been strengthened in the past 4 years, especially several months before the occurrence of the Mw9.0 earthquake.     

Characteristics of Seismic Activity in a 3-Dimensional Space before the Wen'an Earthquake,Hebei Province by Relocation of Small Earthquakes in the China's Capital Area

Characteristics of seismic activity before the M5.1 earthquake in Wen'an,Hebei Province on July 4,2006 are analyzed by relocation of small earthquakes in the China's capital area,and some results are obtained as follows:① The seismic activity of M L ≥3.0 in the middle part of the Hebei plain seismic belt displayed a feature of strengthening (lasting 43 months) quiescence (17 months) five years before the Wen'an earthquake.Simultaneously,the strain release curve showed a variation process of accelerating-flatting.② A seismogenic gap in a three-dimensional space,located at the depth of 15km ～ 20km,with 70km long in latitude direction and 90km long in longitude orientation,was formed by M≥2.0 earthquakes four years prior to the Wen'an earthquake.The initial rupture point of the Wen'an earthquake is situated at the bottom of the gap.③ The focal depths of earthquakes with M L ≥2.0 in the middle part of the Hebei plain seismic belt gradually increased from 10km to 30km during the period from April,2003 to October,2004.Meanwhile,the seismic activity obviously strengthened in the middle and lower crust (from 20km to 30km in depth).     

Retrospection on the Conclusions of Earthquake Tendency Forecast before the Wenchuan M_S8.0 Earthquake

The reason for the failure to forecast the Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake is under study, based on the systematically collection of the seismicity anomalies and their analysis results from annual earthquake tendency forecasts between the 2001 Western Kunlun Mountains Pass M_S8.1 earthquake and the 2008 Wenchuan M_S8.0 earthquake. The results show that the earthquake tendency estimation of Chinese Mainland is for strong earthquakes to occur in the active stage, and that there is still potential for the occurrence of a M_S8.0 large earthquake in Chinese Mainland after the 2001 Western Kunlun Mountains Pass earthquake. However the phenomena that many large earthquakes occurred around Chinese Mainland, and the 6-year long quietude of M_S7.0 earthquake and an obvious quietude of M_S5.0 and M_S6.0 earthquakes during 2002～2007 led to the distinctly lower forecast estimation of earthquake tendency in Chinese Mainland after 2006. The middle part in the north-south seismic belt has been designated a seismic risk area of strong earthquake in recent years, but, the estimation of the risk degree in Southwestern China is insufficient after the Ning’er M_S6.4 earthquake in Yunnan in 2007. There are no records of earthquakes with M_S≥7.0 in the Longmenshan fault, which is one of reasons that this fault was not considered a seismic risk area of strong earthquakes in recent years.     

Earthquake Disaster and Seismic Activity in China Since 1949

An outline is given in the present paper of the general situation of earthquake disasters and their temporal,spatial,and magnitude distributions in China since 1949,based on recently published Chinese disaster data.A comparison was made between the earthquake disasters and seismic activities in China during this period.The results show that 477 disaster-causing earthquakes have occurred during this period,resulting in a death toll of 278,000 persons and the collapse of 11,000,000 rooms in residence houses.The total direct economic losses exceeded 42 billion Yuan(Chinese currency,the same below).A comparison of earthquake disasters in various regions(between East and West China,between various provinces,etc.)has shown that both correlations and significant differences exist between the spatial distributions of earthquake disasters and seismic activities in China.For example,seismic activity shows a feature of being "stronger in the West than in the East," whereas the earthquake disasters are stronger in     

The prediction for seismicity trends of M≥8 in the world by analysis of seismicity patterns

After completion of a study on predicting risky zones of earthquake of M≥8 for 1-3 years in the mainland of China,which was supported by Chinese Joint Seismological Science Foundation(D07018 and D08009),a further study was extended to that of greater magnitudes in the world.Based on the historical earthquake cases,we finished the research report,forecasting global earthquakes with magnitude more than 8.0 using the image analysis of seismicity.In this research report,we summarize 11 abnormal seismicity images for predicting earthquake of M≥8.0 around the world.In our research report,we predicted earthquakes of M≥8.0 from June 2009 to June 2014,the medium term predicting within 5 years period.Among these 5 predictive areas,three earthquakes occurred,which is Samoa M8.1 Earthquake on 29 September 2009,Talca M8.5 Earthquake on 27 January 2010,Chile,and Eastern Sendai M9.0 Earthquake on 11 March 2011,Japan respectively.Here we introduce the main items of the image analysis of seismicity and we predict three earthquakes and think that the image analysis of seismicity can be of help.     

TEMPORAL ORDERLINESS OF EARTHQUAKES (M≥8) ON CHINA MAINLAND——A NEW APPROACH TO THE PREDICTION OF EARTHQUAKES

Some great earthquakes of magnitude 8 or greater on China mainland repeatedly occurred at the intervals of 252, 94, 48, and 25 years. It incited us to study the time interval between every pair of great earthquakes (M≥8) on China mainland. The result shows that there are four groups of clear orderliness distinguished in the most disorder distribution of earthquakes. The distinguished orderliness can be used to estimate the occurrence of next great earthquakes in China     

Analysis on small-earthquake composite fault plane solutions from 1961 to 1999 in Xinfengjiang reservoir area

Introduction XFJ reservoir has been about 40 years since its water loading in 1959 and has induced a great number of earthquakes. The largest one was the M = 6.1 earthquake occurred on March 19, 1962. Since then, a large amount of seismologists in our country have made many researches on the in-duced earthquake. In the paper, we have studied XFJ reservoir earthquakes and their relation with water cyclic fluctuation by using the mechanism solutions of small earthquakes occurred in these 40 y…     

A Monte Carlo study of rainfall forecasting with a stochastic model

A procedure for short-term rainfall forecasting in real-time is developed and a study of the role of sampling on forecast ability is conducted. Ground level rainfall fields are forecasted using a stochastic space-time rainfall model in state-space form. Updating of the rainfall field in real-time is accomplished using a distributed parameter Kalman filter to optimally combine measurement information and forecast model estimates. The influence of sampling density on forecast accuracy is evaluated using a series of a simulated rainfall events generated with the same stochastic rainfall model. Sampling was conducted at five different network spatial densities. The results quantify the influence of sampling network density on real-time rainfall field forecasting. Statistical analyses of the rainfall field residuals illustrate improvement in one hour lead time forecasts at higher measurement densities.     

Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration Aims And Scope

正This journal is established by the Institute of Engineering Mechanics(IEM),China Earthquake Administration,to promote scientific exchange between Chinese and foreign scientists and engineers so as to improve the theory and practice of earthquake hazards mitigation,preparedness,and recovery.To accomplish this purpose,the journal aims to attract a balanced number of papers between Chinese and     

Foreword

Destructive earthquakes have caused great damage in China and the United States and collapsing buildings havecaused many deaths and injuries. The field of earthquake engineering studies earthquake hazards, the occurrence ofearthquakes of various magnitudes, the nature of the ground shaking during an earthquake, the vibration of structuresduring earthquakes, the strengthening of existing structures and the design of new structures to be earthquake resistant,and finally, how to cope with earthquake damage and restore a city to normal functioning. Such efforts are in progressin both countries, but unfortunately, the language barrier interferes with the free flow of information between China andthe Untied States. It would be mutually beneficial if some means could be developed to promote the exchangeof information across the Pacific Ocean. This new journal has been established for this purpose and its success willbe an important step in promoting earthquake engineering in China and the United States.     

WORLD ASSOCIATION FOR SEDIMENTATION AND EROSION RESEARCH(WASER)

正President:Giampaolo Di Silvio,Italy Vice Presidents:Ulrich C.E.Zanke,Germany Zhao-yin Wang,China The World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research(WASER),inaugurated on Oct.19,2004,is an independent non-governmental,non-profit organization.The mission of WASER is to promote international co-operation on the study     

Enhancing remote sensing research on global change to improve our understanding on Earth system processes

正Global Change includes climate change and other environmental changes caused by the joint interaction among various layers of Earth. From the positive side, global change provides new opportunities to human and other living forms on Earth. In the meantime, it creates tremendous challenges and negative impact. At present, the negative impacts have reached all primary processes of the global ecosystem and every aspect of human society, especially causing degradation of the ecosystem. For instance, intensive deforestation causes decline of biodiversity; global warming causes sea level rise and increases     

SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences SUBJECT INDEX TO VOLUME 57(2014)

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