Principal regularities in the distribution of major earthquakes relative to solar and lunar tides and other cosmic forces

Abstract

Magnitudes of strong earthquakes in the period 1903–1956 fall into two ranges: an upper of magnitudes 8.4–8.9 and a lower of magnitude 7.9–8.3. Earthquakes of the upper range are distinctly related to (a) rotational parameters of the Earth (the so-called V numbers) and (b) lunar declination at culmination. Earthquakes of lower magnitudes do not reveal this relationship. Annual and diurnal trends in the seismic activity of the Earth's crust and the upper parts of the mantle are considered. Changes of seismic activity are compared with those of tide-generating forces, these changes reaching some 100%. The storing of seismic activity, its intensification and dimunition within different structural levels in the Earth's crust and mantle at different times, and the approximate coincidence of seismic events in various tectonic levels of continental and oceanic border regions are discussed. Characteristics of the changes of seismic activity are related to the fixed position of the Earth (i.e., the Greenwich Meridian relative to the Sun). Regularities in the distribution of seismic activity are related to the axes of the Earth's deformation. The association of the strongest earthquakes with the position of maxima of geoid amplitudes in circumsolar space is described.