Disturbances in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis>2 region critical frequency before the earthquake of September 11, 2008 off the coast of Hokkaido,Japan, and during a moderate magnetic storm based on data from ground-based vertical ionosphere sounding stations

Based on data from ground-based vertical sounding stations, the behaviors of the ionosphere F region before a strong M 6.8 earthquake off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, and during the moderate magnetic storm before this earthquake are compared. It was found that the critical frequency of the ionosphere F region (foF2) above the Wakkanai ground-based ionosphere vertical sounding station, which was located in the preparation zone of this earthquake, suffered a long-term disturbance of slightly more than an hour nearly half a day before the earthquake. The magnitude of earthquake-induced disturbance is comparable to that caused by a magnetic storm.