Possible seismo-ionospheric precursor of the 12 February 2014 Yutian earthquake in China

Journal of earth system science

Zhou Yiyan^2,3¹  Yang Jian^1,2,3²  Lin Jian^2,3³ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Earthquake Geodesy, Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration, Wuhan 430071, People’s Republic of China.^2;School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, People’s Republic of China.^1;Wuhan Base of Crustal Dynamics, China Earthquake Administration, Wuhan 430071, People’s Republic of China.^3

关键词: Ionospheric anomaly;    earthquake;    total electron content;    computerised ionospheric tomography;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：天文学(综合)

来源: Indian Academy of Sciences

【 摘 要 】

On 12 February 2014, a major earthquake occurred near the Yutian County, China. In this paper, the ionospheric variations around the time of this earthquake were analysed on the basis of the global positioning system vertical total electron contents (VTEC) and computerised ionospheric tomography (CIT) electron density distributions. Three ionospheric anomalies on 2, 17 and 19 February were detected with the global VTEC data from Center for Orbit Determination in Europe before and after the earthquake. Based on the analysis of the geomagnetic indices, we think the anomalies on 17 and 19 February could be related to the geomagnetic disturbances. Through further investigations on the temporal and spatial characteristics of the anomaly on 2 February, we draw the conclusion that the pre-earthquake ionospheric anomaly is probably the seismo-ionospheric precursor of the Yutian earthquake. In addition, the CIT results of the anomaly on 2 February were used to study the vertical distribution of this anomaly. The results showed that the ionospheric anomaly was mainly concentrated at the heights between 200 and 400 km.

【 授权许可】

CC BY