GEFS: Searching beyond seismology for earthquake precursors

Date:
January 25, 2021
Source:
Springer
Summary:
To predict when earthquakes are likely to occur, seismologists
often use statistics to monitor how clusters of seismic activity
evolve over time.

However, this approach often fails to anticipate the time
and magnitude of large-scale earthquakes, leading to dangerous
oversights in current early-warning systems. For decades, studies
outside the seismology field have proposed that these major,
potentially devastating seismic events are connected to a range of
non-seismic phenomena -- which can be observed days or even weeks
before these large earthquakes occur. So far, however, this idea
hasn't caught on in the wider scientific community.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
To predict when earthquakes are likely to occur, seismologists often use statistics to monitor how clusters of seismic activity evolve over time.

However, this approach often fails to anticipate the time and magnitude
of large-scale earthquakes, leading to dangerous oversights in current
early- warning systems. For decades, studies outside the seismology
field have proposed that these major, potentially devastating seismic
events are connected to a range of non-seismic phenomena -- which can be observed days or even weeks before these large earthquakes occur. So far, however, this idea hasn't caught on in the wider scientific community. In
this special issue, EPJ Special Topics proposes the Global Earthquake Forecasting System (GEFS): the first collaborative initiative between multi-disciplinary researchers devoted to studying a diverse array of non-seismic earthquake precursors.


==========================================================================
By promoting the integration of these ideas with existing theories in seismology, GEFS could lead to significant improvements of earthquake
early warning systems; potentially saving lives and protecting critical infrastructures when future disasters hit. The initiative is rationalised
via a subtle atomic-level defect-based mechanism for explaining a variety
of earthquake precursors, building on decades of laboratory experiments
in physical chemistry and solid-state physics. The theory suggests that,
as stresses build up in tectonic plates prior to seismic activity, electron-hole pairs are generated in the Earth's crust. The electrons
are confined to the stressed rocks, but the positively charged holes
flow out into the surrounding, less stressed rocks, producing electrical currents that can travel over large distances. These currents in turn
can trigger wide-ranging secondary effects ranging from unusual low to
ultralow electromagnetic radiation, to emissions of spectroscopically
distinct thermal infrared from the Earth's surface, to changes in the atmosphere and ionosphere.

This special issue documents the findings of researchers around the
world, who have used both ground- and space-based observations to
link these non-seismic patterns to the occurrence of subsequent large earthquakes. The work creates a strong rationale for global efforts to continually monitor the Earth for key signs of these precursors, which
are often intermittent and weak. If its aims are realised, GEFS could
be the first step towards a widespread collaboration between different scientific communities, each with the shared goal of improving our
ability to forecast large earthquakes in the future.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Springer. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. D. Sornette, G. Ouillon, A. Mignan, F. Freund. Preface to the Global
Earthquake Forecasting System (GEFS) special issue: Towards using
non- seismic precursors for the prediction of large earthquakes. The
European Physical Journal Special Topics, 2021; 230 (1): 1 DOI:
10.1140/epjst/ e2020-000242-4 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210125112305.htm

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