Generation of earthquake detection signal based on ionospheric electron content variation

Recent studies enlightened the fact that seismic activities cause variations on ionospheric electron content based on electrical fields around stressed rock formations triggering ionization on air and ionosphere. Robust detection of seismic activity triggered variations in dynamic state of the ionosphere has a significant effect on early detection of earthquakes. In this study, a technique based on using Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements obtained from a GPS network and detecting local ionospheric variations is proposed. Reliability of generating an earthquake detection signal by implementing proposed technique is tested over a period of 2 years in 2010 and 2011. It is observed that proposed earthquake detection technique is able to detect 15 out of 23 earthquakes of magnitude larger than 5 in Richter scale while generating 8 false alarms within this time period around Turkey.