Paper detail

Revealing pre-earthquake signatures in atmosphere and ionosphere associated with 2015 M7.8 and M7.3 events in Nepal. Preliminary results

We analyze retrospectively/prospectively the transient variations of three different physical parameters of atmosphere during the time of M7.8 and M7.3 events in Nepal: outgoing earth radiation (OLR), GPS/TEC and the thermodynamic proprieties in the lower atmosphere. We found that in mid March 2015 a rapid augment of satellite observed earth radiation in atmosphere and the anomaly located in close vicinity to the future M7.8 epicenter reached the maximum on April 21-22. Our continuous satellite analysis revealed prospectively the new strong anomaly on May 3th, which was the reason to contemplate another large event in the area. On May 12, 2015 a large aftershock of M7.3 occurred. The analysis of air temperature from weather ground station near Katmandu shows analogous patterns with offset 1-2 days earlier to the satellite anomalies. The GPS/TEC data analysis indicates an augment and variation in electron density reaching a maximum value during April 22-24 period. A strong negative TEC anomaly in the crest of EIA (Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly) has occurred on April 21st and strong positive on April 24th, 2015. Our preliminary results show correlation between the pre-earthquake atmospheric and ionospheric anomalies and the occurrence of 2015 M7.8 and M7.3 events in Nepal.