Asymmetrical pulses, the periodicity and synchronization of low frequency microseisms

Seismic records of eight IRIS broadband stations were analyzed at distances of 70 to 7160 km from the magnitude 8.3 Hokkaido earthquake of September 25, 2003. The stations situated in the subduction zone recorded asymmetrical microseismic pulses lasting 3–10 min a few days before the earthquake. No such pulses were observed in the records of the stations situated outside the subduction zone. Similar pulses were also recorded before the magnitude 7.8 Kronotskii, Kamchatka earthquake of 1997. The pulses are hypothesized to have been caused by creeping movements. Synchronous oscillations of microseismic noise with periods of 1–3 h were recorded as far as 3000 km from the Hokkaido earthquake a few days before it occurred. The noise coherence measure increased for stations closer to the epicenter. The question of the source of this coherence remains open. These effects belong to the class of those occurring in dissipative metastable systems; parts of the terrestrial lithosphere during the precursory periods of seismic catastrophes seem to be such systems.