Publication Date:
2005
Description:
Strong electrical signals that correspond to the Mw = 9.3 earthquake of 26
December 2004, which occurred at 0058:50.7 UTC off the west coast of northern Sumatra,
Indonesia, were recorded by an electrostatic sensor (a device that detects short-term
variations in Earth's electrostatic field) at a seismic station in Italy, which had been
installed to study the influence of local earthquakes on a new landslide monitoring
system. Electrical signals arrived at the station practically instantaneously and were
detected up to several hours before the onset of the Sumatra earthquake (Figure 1) as
well as before local quakes. The corresponding seismic signals (p-waves) arrived 740
seconds after the start of the earthquake. Because the electrical signals travel at the
speed of light, electrical monitoring for the global detection of very strong
earthquakes could be an important tool in significantly increasing the hazard alert
window
Keywords:
Earthquake
;
Banda
;
Aceh
;
Indonesia
;
Instruments
;
Earthquake precursor: prediction research
;
Earthquake precursor: electrical
;
Roeder
;
Roder
;
Buettner
;
Buttner
;
7215
;
Seismology:
;
Earthquake
;
source
;
observations
;
7223
;
Earthquake
;
interaction,
;
forecasting,
;
and
;
prediction
;
7294
;
Seismic
;
instruments
;
and
;
networks
