Comment on “222Rn Premonitory signals for earthquakes?”

Eos Science News
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Abstract

Radon and other terrestrial gases in groundwater and soil air have been studied in recent years in seismically active areas, especially in China, Japan, the former Soviet Union, and the United States, in search of changes that may be useful for earthquake prediction. Concentrations of radon, helim, hydrogen, mercury vapor, carbon dioxide, and several other gases have been found to be high along active faults. Faults may thus be paths of least resistance along which terrestrial gases generated or stored in the Earth can escape into the atmosphere. Gas-concentration changes with durations of hours to months have been observed before and after earthquakes at relatively few favorably situated sites, and their patterns have not always been repeated. Some of these sites are located as far as several hundred kilometers away from earthquake epicenters. These “sensitive” sites are generally situated along active faults, whether the seismogenic ones or not, especially at their intersections or bends, or at other structurally weak zones, possibly because of concentration of tectonic strain and abundance of pore fluids at such places (see review papers by King, 1986, 1990). Due to this selectivity and for two other important reasons, studies of terrestrial gases for earthquake prediction have not been viewed favorably by most geophysicists, especially those in the United States.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Comment on “222Rn Premonitory signals for earthquakes?”
Series title Eos Science News
DOI 10.1029/91EO00382
Volume 73
Issue 48
Year Published 1992
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Description 2 p.
First page 517
Last page 518
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