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Two types of changes in apparent resistivity in earthquake prediction

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Abstract

Two types of changes in apparent resistivity (AR) have been linked to earthquake occurrences. This paper studies the changes and their causes, in detail with the ultimate purpose of developing and assessing a method of earthquake (EQ) prediction. The AR changes of the first type (CFT) are considered to be precursors related to earthquakes (EQs); these appear mostly in the medium-term period before EQs and in the short-term period preceding EQs. The changes of the second type (CST) are characterized by a turning anomaly of a long-trend AR variation or the drastically descending/ascending anomaly superimposed on such a variation; these appear synchronously in large areas, such as the Chinese mainland, and northern and northwestern China, ect. Their spatio-temporal clusters correspond well to high seismicities in the areas and distant great EQs around the Chinese mainland. Based on the behaviors of the two types of changes, the AR changes observed prior to the M s8.0 Wenchuan EQ of 2008 are studied. The results show that in the medium-term period before the EQ, noticeable anomalies appeared synchronously at four stations around the Songpan-Ganzi active block, but only weak upward changes were observed in the short-term period preceding the EQ, which caused the prediction of the imminent EQ to fail.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lanzhou Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    XueBin Du

  2. Lanzhou Base of Earthquake Science Institute, China Earthquake Administration, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    XueBin Du

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Du, X. Two types of changes in apparent resistivity in earthquake prediction. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 145–156 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4031-y

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