Estimation of the Epicenter Position of Kamchatka Earthquakes

Abstract

In this article, we describe a method for predicting of the epicenter location region of Kamchatka and Commander earthquakes (EQs). It is based on the properties of the precursory atmospheric ULF/ELF (1–30 Hz) radiation and the spatial statistics of local EQs in relation to the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches. From this statistics, it follows that more than 90% of events with magnitude (ML) of more than 5 occur in the gap ~ 150 km west of the Kuril-Kamchatka trench and north-east of the Aleutian trench. Additionally, we obtain the approximate location of the epicenter by determining the position of the radiation source. We suppose that it is caused by gas eruption from the hearth of the EQ to the trench and has the nearest location to the EQ epicenter. Further, we obtain other parameters of supposed position of the epicenter from spatial statistics of EQs relative to the projection of radiation source, which approximately coincides with gas emanation area in the ocean surface. The main drawbacks of the method are the dependence of its accuracy on the industrial interferences and the ambiguity of determining the epicenter location in the case of single-point registration of radiation when the main lobe of the azimuthal distribution of radiation crosses both trenches.