Thermal infrared anomaly indicating unformed strong earthquake sequences

Abstract

By processing and analyzing many satellite remote sensing images in infrared channels, we found visual evidence indicating earthquake sequences. In a sequence, large earthquakes could migrate thousands of kilometers along a linear route from one land mass to another, and infrared anomalies also cover these land masses. The sequence has at least two types: (1) quakes alternately occurring at two ends of a belt, or (2) quakes progressively migrating along a far-flung route. The former can be foreshowed in a single infrared belt with a legible directed structure and higher brightness temperature; the latter can be identified in advance from the shift, veer, and deformation of more areas with a higher brightness temperature. The thermal infrared anomalies with a shorter duration are used to predict the quake-sequence evolving in a longer period. Two sorts of sequences can meet and form a more complex structure that can also be shown in advance by an anomalous infrared area. These studies on the seismic sequences will provide a potent means for analyzing earthquake-pregnant fields and estimating the location of unformed earthquake sequences.