Earthquake prediction: an empirical approach

Earthquake prediction: an empirical approach

Tectonopby~&~,148 (1988) 195-210 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands 195 Research Papers Earthquake prediction...

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Tectonopby~&~,148 (1988) 195-210 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

195

Research Papers

Earthquake prediction: an empirical approach T. RIKITAKE L)epmtment of Earth Sciences, College ~~~~u~ities

and Sciences, N&on Uni~er~i~, Setagaya-ku, Tdcyo {Japan)

(Received June 4,1987; revised version accepted September 28,1987)

Abstract Rikitake, T., 1988. Earthquake prediction: an empirical approach. Tectonophysics, 148: 195-210 Earthquake precursor data so far accumulated in Japan have shown that the larger the main shock magnitude, the larger the distance between the epicenter and an observation point where a precursor is observed. It is possible to empirically establish an approximate relationship between maximnm detectable distance, D_, and main shock magnitude, M, the relationship being different from discipline to discipline of precursor. When a number of precursors are observed, we may draw circles with a radius equal to D,,,, peculiar to each precursor discipline, centered at the respective observation points on the condition that M takes on a certain value. In that case the epicenter of a future earthquake should be located in the area which is common to all of the circles. If M is too small, some of the circles do not overlap. If it is too large, an epicentral area which is too wide to be realistic must be assumed. In this way an approximate epicenter location and a rough value of the main shock magnitude can be assessed. Applying the procedttre to the precursors of the Izu-Oshima Kinkai (M = 7.0, 1978) and the Niigata (M = 7.5, 1964), Japan, earthquakes, remarkable success is achieved. Probabilities of an earthquake occurring in a specified time interval can be evaluated as a function of time when a precursor is observed. For such an evaluation, we rely either on the log T-M relationship, with a prescribed value of M, or on the frequency distribution of log T which is empirically obtained depending on precursor disciplines, T being the precursor time. When a number of precnrsors are observed one by one, changes in synthetic probab~ty of earthquake occurrence can be estimated according to the existing formula (Utsu, 1977). As an example, such probability changes with time are estimated making use of the precursor data for the Izu-Oshima Kinkai earthquake. It turns out that the synthetic probability generally increases as time goes on. When a long-term precursor happens to be observed, however, the probability drops discontinuously, being followed by a gradual rise again. The temporal change in probability therefore shows considerable fluctuations. This is especially so when a short interval for probabi~ty evaluation is specified. Because of uncertain preliminary probab~ty involved in the evaluation and an unknown rate of false precursor signals against true ones, the absolute value of probability thus evaluated may not be perfectly reliable. Even so, the temporal change in probability may provide some clues for the actual publication of earthquake prediction.

1. Introduction A large number of earthquake precursor data have been accumulated in Japan in recent years, mostly under the nationwide programme on earthquake prediction launched in 1965. Although not conclusive, much of the empirical law that seems to govern the nature of precursors of various 0040-1951/88/$03.50

0 1988 Else&r Science Publishers B.V.

disciplines has now been brought to light, as summarized by R&take (1987). It is intended in this paper to present a practical way of predicting an earthquake, based only on the empirical nature of precursors thus disclosed, although debate about the physical mechanism that gives rise to a precursor will be put aside.

196

In Section detectable function

2 will be shown

distance, of main

approximately

O,,,,, shock

of a precursor magnitude,

determined

from

the

obtained

precursor-like

is observed

servation

point,

the epicenter located

by drawing

with a radius cursor

of a future

discipline,

a circle centered provided

assigned to M. On the condition precursors observed points, we are able

The

When

peculiar

be

at that point to that prevalue is

The disciplines

we have a number

of

at different observation to find an area which is

and numbers

for which the distance observation For

of main

activity

epicenter.

data,

epicenter

and

are shown in Table

it is meaningless

of the definition

the seismic

of precursor

D between

point is known,

foreshocks,

because shock

that

detectable distance as a function

a

at an ob-

that a certain

Maximum

shock magnitude

is different

should

magnitude

be

an area in which

earthquake

equal to D,,

data.

of precursor.

we can define

as a

M, can

relationship thus M-D,, from discipline to discipline phenomenon

2. Prediction of epicenter location and main shock

that the maximum

to define

of foreshock,

1. D

which

is

in an area close to the main Discipline

m,

or

microearth-

quake, in Table 1 denotes the foreshock activity of microearthquakes that occur in an area significantly distant from the main shock epicenter. Figures 1A and B are the M-log D plots for the precursors given in Table 1. D is measured in

common to all the circles. When the assumed magnitude is too small, some of the circles do not overlap. In this way, it is possible to say some-

kilometers.

thing about the epicenter magnitude in favourable

location and main shock cases. The method will

plines are indicated with the abbreviations given in Table 1. A straight line, which approximately

be applied to the precursors of the Izu-Oshima Kinkai (M = 7.0, 1978) and the Niigata (it4 = 7.5, 1964), Japan, earthquakes, with remarkable success. Temporal change in earthquake occurrence

detectable disrepresents D,,,,, , the maximum tance, is drawn in each plot. When the number of data is small, the straight lines are not quite

probability in association with the appearance of a precursor can be estimated by analyzing the precursor time vs. main shock magnitude relationship, or the frequency distribution of precursor time, depending on disciplines of precursor.

TABLE

Evaluation of such changes in probability will be made for a number of precursor disciplines in Section 3. When a series of precursors are observed one by one, temporal change in synthetic probability of earthquake occurrence fluctuates, reflecting the characteristics of each precursor. Taking the series of precursors preceding the Izu-Oshima Kinkai earthquake as an example, temporal changes in the probability of the main shock occurring in a specified time interval will be estimated in Section 4. Such probability clues for forecasting main shock.

changes may provide some the occurrence time of the

In these

figures

the precursor

1

Precursor

data

between

epicenter

of various

disciplines

and observation

Discipline

Geodetic

for which

the distance

point is known Abbre-

Number

viation

of data

1,k

21

survey and tide-gauge

observation I Microearthquake

m

10

Tilt (~ndulum)

t

46

Tilt (water-tube)

T

11

Strain (extensometer)

h

17

Strain (borehole

H

25

Geomagnetic

strainmeter)

field

g

5

Earth currents

e

70

Resistivity

(variometer)

r

30

Resistivity

(long-distance R

9

w

7

electrodes) Electromagnetic Radon

disci-

radiation

and other geochemical

elements Underground springs There are a number for different

i

15

U

10

water/hot

of data that give the same distance

observations.

value

197

accurate. However, the integrated M-log D plot for all precursors becomes as shown in Fig. 2, in which we clearly see that the overall detectability limit is confirmed fairly definitely as a function of

As a matter of fact, an attempt is made to draw the lines for each discipline with an inclination which is as close as possible to that of the line shown in Fig. 2. M.

M 80 0

6

v 0

5 I

?-

I

/

00

6-

0

50

0””

4-

/ /

/

3O

0

1

2

3

log

3’

D

2

I

0

(I)+(k)

3

log

D

CT)

M

I M

a-

8

?-

I-

5-

3

1

3O

ICY

D

(HI

M 8

(h)

(t) Fig. 1. A. M-log observation

D relationships

(k); microearthquake

(H); and strain by extensometer resistivity geochemical

by variometer elements

(r);

for the following

disciplines:

(m); tilt by pendulum (h). B. M-log resistivity

(i); and underground

D relationships

by long-distance

land deformation

tiltmeter

for the following electrodes

water and hot springs

as revealed

(t), tilt by water-tube

(u).

(R);

by geodetic

tiltmeter

disciplines:

electromagnetic

survey (1) and tide-gauge

(T); strain

geomagnetic radiation

by volume

strainmeter

field (g); earth currents (w) and

radon

and

(e); other

198

I

3.

1

3

log

0

3

log

D

M 8-

8’ 0 5.

3.

1

3

log

D

M

8

50

0

4-

,,/..li

3.

1

,2

I

3O

2

1

(u)

Fig. 1 (continued).

/O

3

log

D

199 TOTAL

0

-0.87t2.61os

I

36

/

1

Fig. 2. M-log

I

I

2

3

D

log

D

D plots for all the available precursor data.

The maximum detectable distance for each precursor discipline can be read off from the lines shown in Figs. 1A and B, as given in Table 2 for various M’s. The reason why the M-log D relationship is different from discipline to discipline is not fully understood. It is known, however, that these precursors seem to be characterized by a sensitivity for detection peculiar to each discipline (Rikitake, 1987). TABLE

DATA

Epicentral area and magnitude of main shock

When a precursor of a particular discipline is observed at an observation point, we can draw a circle centered at that point with a radius equal to D -9 which is given in Table 2, on the condition that M takes on a certain value. In that case the epicenter of a future earthquake should be located within the circular area. On the assumption that

2

Maximum distance of precursor detection for various disciplines (D,,,,) Discipline

%,

(W

M= 5.0

M = 5.5

M = 6.0

M = 6.5

M = 7.0

M= 7.5

M = 8.0

Geodetic survey and 10

17

27

46

69

117

190

69

81

93

112

138

166

204

Tilt (pendulum)

37

60

93

144

234

363

501

Tilt (water-tube)

43

60

85

131

182

257

363

102

138

190

282

398

589

813

89

126

174

257

398

589

813

tide-gauge observation Microearthquake

Strain (extensometer) Strain (borehole strainmeter) Geomagnetic field Earth currents Resistivity (variometer) Resistivity (long-distance electrodes) Electromagnetic

radiation

Radon and other geochemical elements Underground water/hot springs

25

30

55

100

182

25

4.6

39

60

98

144

234

346

158

245

380

562

912

1380

2040

13

22

37

63

107

182

269

398

616

4.4

8.7

7.6

60

85

132

117

174

257

380

562

812

1150

21

39

72

151

282

589

1050

200

there are a number

of observation

observe

of various

precursors

have a number epicenter

of circles with different

should

common

points where we

disciplines,

be located

tion at N, and N, and volume

we may

are so large that

radii. The

in an area which

is

of the circles thus drawn

to all the circles. Kinkai earthquake

A considerable

number

of precursors

istered prior to the 1978 Izu-Oshima southwest

that

of Tokyo,

observation

points

occurred as shown

were reg-

Kinkai

150 km

in Table

3. The

The cross and the rectangle

the epicentral

N,, N,, N,, O,, O,, S and T are the observation precursory I-earth at Oz.

signals currents

at the respective at N,; S-anomalous

points.

points

and

small.

cerned.

given in Table

land uplift centered

0,

do not that

the circles

overlap

with

the prescribed

On the other

hand,

1979)

centered one

at

another,

magnitude

the assumption

is too that

M = 7.5 leads to an epicentral area that seems too extensive for an earthquake of that magnitude. It is also hard to think of an earthquake of such a large magnitude occurring in the Izu area con-

water at N,;

These

Kinkai

the actual epicenter

I-underground

of

area thus determined.

area of the Izu-Oshima represent

projection

are located in the epicentral

suggesting

curred in the Tokyo Bay area. Assuming M = 7.0, D,, circles are drawn as shown in Fig. 3. The Dmax’s for radon concentra-

area represents

to note that the

and the horizontal

If M = 6.5 is assumed,

A, I, N,, N,, N,, Or, O,, S and

Fig. 3. The shaded

epicenter

and Somerville,

N,

T are shown in Fig. 3. T is the mean location of a number of microearthquake epicenters that oc-

M = 7.0 is assumed.

be

the source model (Shimazaki earth-

about

at A and I

is shown by the shaded

one in the figure. It is interesting

(I) Izu-Oshima

(M = 7.0)

strain

for them cannot

shown in the figure. An area that is covered by all

actual

quake

the circles

considerations

earthquake

and the horizontal

3. Circles

&-geomagnetic

as determined projection

1 to 8 are drawn

level at S; 2-the

same

lead to the conclu-

by the D_

with D,,,,‘s

at 0,;

for the following

3-microearthquake

field at N,; 7-resistivity

method.

of the source fault. A, I, at T;

at N,; B-resistivity

201

sion that the magnitude should be close to 7.0. In this way the D_ method leads to remarkable success in assessing the epicenter and magnitude of the Izu-Oshima Kinkai earthquake, although the precursor data were compiled well after the earthquake.

(2) Niigata earthquake Prior to the 1964 Niigata earthquake (M = 7.5), anomalous uplift at a number of benchmarks on a national highway running along the Japan Sea coast was observed, as shown in Fig. 4 (Dambara, 1973). Kasahara (1973) reported on a precursor-

NI IGATA EARTHocw(E ,(M=7.5)

Fig. 4. Anomalous

land uplift precursory

to the 1964 Niigata earthquake.

202

like ground tilt observed at a crustal movement observatory near Niigata City. Fujita (1965) also reported on geomagnetic precursors at a number of magnetic stations in the earthquake area. Assuming M = 7.5, the Dmaxmethod applied to the seven benchmarks leads to an epicentral area shown in Fig. 5 with thin shading. The circle for

the tilt precursor at the observatory denoted by M is too large to be shown in the figure. If we further take the geoma~etic precursors at nine magnetic stations into account, the epicentrai area becomes narrower, as also shown in the figure with hatching. Meanwhile, the actual epicenter and the horizontal projection of the source model are ob-

Fig. 5. The outer shaded area is the epicentraf area of the Niigata earthquake as obtained by the D,,,_ method centered at the seven Ievefhng benchmarks (solid circles) on the assumption that M= 7.5. If the anomaly in the geomagnetic

field at the nine magnetic

stations (open circles) is taken into account, the epicentral area becomes the one which is shown with the inner hatched area. The rectangle and cross show the projection of source model and epicenter, respectively. where a water-tube tiltmeter has been in operation.

M-the

Maza crustal movement observatory,

203

TABLE

3

Geoscientific No.

precursors

to the Izu-Oshima

Discipline

Kinkai

earthquake Precursor

Abbreviation

time

Epicentral distance

(day)

Observation

1

Land upheaval

1

ca. 1100

30

Nakaizu

2

Resistivity

R

300

15

Izu Oshima

distance

(long-

point

(km) (Nr) Is. (0,)

electrodes)

3

Underground

4

Radon

5

Resistivity -period

water (short-

U

285

35

Shuzenji (S)

i

195

29

Nakaizu

(Na)

90

30

Nakaizu

(N,)

Nakaizu (N3)

R

geomagnetic

variation) 6

Radon

i

82

25

7

Earth currents

e

65

30

Nakaizu (N,)

8

Geomagnetic

60

30

Nakaizu (Nl)

9

Volume strain

g H

42

41

Irozaki (I)

10

Volume strain

H

26

34

Ajiro (A)

m

38

100

U

18

90

Gmaezaki Nakaizu

field

10a

Microearthquake

11

Underground

12

Radon

i

5

25

13

Volume strain

H

4

41

14

Foreshock

f

0.65

Near the epicenter

15

Foreshock

f

0.17

Near the epicenter

water

Tokyo Bay (T)

Iro&i

(0,) (Ns)

(I)

of main shock of main shock

tained by Abe (1975), as shown in the figure. Although the accuracy of the magnetic survey at that time is not as high as it is today, it is interesting to see that the epicentral area as deduced from the precursor analysis roughly agrees with the real one. If we assume that M = 7.0, some of the D,, circles tend not to overlap. On the other hand, the epicentral area due to the present method seems TABLE

3. Prediction of occurrence time Probabiliry of earthquake occurrence cursors of the 1st and quasi-1st kin&

due to pre-

4

Parameters, cursors

too wide if M = 8.0 is assumed. It also seems unlikely that an earthquake with a magnitude as large as 8.0 will occur in the area in question. It is therefore concluded that the main shock magnitude takes on a value around 7.5.

data

numbers

and

standard

deviations

for pre-

of the 1st kind

logT=a+bM n

b

11

-0.260

0.475 0.367

7

-0.460

0.484 0.352

T

5

-1.23

0.567 0.378

Strain (extensometer)

h

17

-1.28

0.491 0.412

b-value

b

14

-0.524

0.446 0.724

Seismic wave velocity

v

17

-1.78

0.727 0.411

Anomalous

a

12

-1.60

0.754 0.142

Seismic quiescence

q

10

Geomagnetic

g

4

Discipline

Abbre-

Dam

viation

number

1 k

Tilt (water-tube)

Geodetic

survey

Tide-gauge

observation

seismicity field

Rikitake (1975, 1979) showed that a relation:

%

0.936 0.269 0.784 -2.08

0.781 0.585

(1)

approximately holds good between precursor time T and main shock magnitude M for precursors of some kinds, where a and b are parameters peculiar to a precursor discipline. When T is measured in days, he obtained a = - 1.01 and b = 0.60 for a then-available data set of precursors. It is also demonstrated by Rikitake (1987) that a relation such as eqn. (1) holds for each individual discipline of precursors of some sort: those disciplines are land deformation by geodetic survey

204

(I), land deformation by tide-gauge observation (k), ground tilt by a water-tube tiltmeter (T), strain by an extensometer (h), b-value of seismic activity (b), change in seismic wave velocity (v), anomalous seismic activity (a), seismic gap/quiescence (q) and change in geomagnetic field (g). These precursors are called precursors of the 1st kind. In Table 4 are shown the parameters determined for these precursors. Putting

while [i and t2 correspond to t, and f,, respectively. Making use of error function G(x), defined by:

E = log T

Q(X) = $iX

for the ith precursor, is given by: P,(ti,

t2) = $iC2

e-h:(c-to)2 d.$

(3)

1

as discussed by Rikitake (1969) where: h, = l/fi,

(2)

the standard deviation Us of E - &,, where co is the mean value of log T as determined by eqn (l), for each discipline is also included in the table. As can be seen in the table, the available data are scarce for some of the disciplines, probably resulting in an inaccurate estimate of a, b and Us. Such a defect certainly influences the probability evaluation in the later part of this section. This point could be improved in the future when a larger data set is compiled. For precursor disciplines such as earth currents (e), resistivity with long-distance electrodes (R), radon and other geochemical elements (i) and underground water/hot springs (u), it has been shown by Rikitake (1987) that the log T-M relationship leads to a value of T which is significantly smaller than those for precursors of the 1st kind, although a relationship similar to eqn. (1) holds. Precursors belonging to these disciplines are called precursors of the quasi-1st kind, and the parameters and their standard deviations are given in Table 5. Assuming that 6 - &, is governed by a Gaussian distribution, the probab~ity of an earthquake occurring between t, and t, (ti < tz), as evaluated

(4)

e-“‘du

(5)

eqn. (3) can be rewritten as:

(6) Subscript i to be attached to some of the quantities in eqns. (3), (4) and (6) is ignored for the sake of simplicity. On the condition that no earthquake occurs during a period between t = 0 and t = t,, the probability of an earthquake occurring between t, and f2 becomes: Pi(&, t2) = Pitt,? t,)/[l

- Pz(O, &>I

(7)

Using u(‘s given in Tables 4 and 5, temporal changes in the probability of an earthquake occurring within a prescribed period, 1 day say, from a specified date when a precursor of the 1st or quasi-1st kind is observed are estimated as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. M = 7 is assumed in the estimate. No probability curve for discipline a (anomalous seismicity) is presented here because the probability for the time-span covered by these figures is extremely low. It is apparent from the probability curves thus

TABLE 5 Parameters, data numbers and standard deviations for precursors of the quasi-1st kind Discipline

Abbreviation

Data number

LI

h

mt

Earth currents Resistivity (long-distance electrodes) Radon and other geochemical elements Underground water/hot springs

e R i ”

3 9 14 9

.- 0.542 -2.00 - 0.468 -- 4.10

0.348 0.627 0.278 0.794

0.306 0.579 0.656 0.577

205

2.5

TIME

Fig. 6. Probabilities when

precursors

(days)

of an earthquake of disciplines

occurring

g, k,

within

1 day

I and v are observed.

M = 7 is assumed.

Fig. 8. Probabilities when

precursors

Probability of earthquake occurrence

due to pre-

cursors of the 2nd and 3rd kinds

Rikitake (1979) named the precursor of discipline r (resist&y observed using a variometer) as

in0

200

300 T

Fig. 7. Probabilities when

precursors

M = 7 is assumed.

within

1 day

u are observed.

a precursor of the 2nd kind. The precursor time for this kind of shock takes a value which ranges from 2 to 3 hours, regardless of the main shock magnitude. The precursor time for foreshocks (f) ranges from a few minutes to thousands of days, no indication of magnitude dependence being known. Such a precursor is called a precursor of the 3rd kind. Disciplines such as microearthquake (m), change in seismicity pattern (p), tilt by a pendulum tilt meter (t), volume strain (H) and the like seem to belong to this kind of precursor. The frequency distributions of logarithmic precursor time, log T, in units of days for the foreshock (f) and the volume strain (H), are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Let us assume that logarithmic precursor time is governed by a Weibull distribution such as: A(s) =Ks”

log

VA<

occurring

e, i, R and

M = 7 is assumed.

obtained that the probability value and its temporal change are different from discipline to discipline of precursor. For disciplines i and u, the peak probability takes place within several days after the precursor appearance, with a peak value around 0.03. Precursors of these disciplines may be useful for short-term prediction. In contrast, for disciplines 1. v, g and the like, it takes several hundred days until the probability reaches its maximum, which is of the order of 10p4. These are regarded as long-term precursors. The differences in temporal change between precursor disciplines seriously affect the synthetic probability to be evaluated in the following section.

OO

of an earthquake of disciplines

400

500

600

700

800

I ME (days)

of an earthquake of disciplines

occurring

within

1 day

b, h, q and T are observed.

T+c)

(s=log

(8)

FREQUENCY ____*_---*----*--__*____*____*_--

1

-3.0

-

-2.6

-2.5

-

-2.1

n

-2.0

-

-1.6

W

-1.5

-

-1.1

m

-1.0

-

-0.6

-

-0.5

-

-0.1

-

14

0.0

-

0.4

0.5

-

0.9

-

14

1.0

-

1.4

1.5

-

1.9

2.0

-

2.4

-

2.5

-

2.9

I

3.0

-

3.4

3.5

-

3.9

Fig.

9. Histogram

measured

in days.

0 1 3 5 10 28 25 -

10 10 2 0 0

of log T for discipline

f (foreshock).

T is

206

log -3.@

-

-2.6

-2.5

-

-2.1

-2.0

-

-1.6

I

1

-1.5

-

-1.1

n

1

0 0

-1.0

-

-0.6

m

-0.5

-

-0.1

I

0.0

-

0.4

-

0.5

-

0.9

m

4 2 11 3

1.4

l

1.5

-

1.9

I

2.0

-

2.4

0

2.5

-

2.9

0

3.0

-

3.4

u

3.5

-

3.9

0

1.0

Fig. 10. Histogram is measured

FREQUENCY _---*----*----*--

T

1 2

of log T for discipline

H (volume strain).

T

in days.

Fig. 11. Plots of In In (l/R) fitting

for discipline

straight where X is the probability for log T to fall in an interval between s and s + As, where As is much smaller than s. c is a constant which may be chosen in such a way as to make actual calculation easy: ‘a value of c = 3 is assumed here. Denoting a cumulative probability for s to take on a value between 0 and s by P(s), we define a function: R(s)

= 1 -P(s)

As R(s) R(s)

(9)

is given by:

= exp[ -KY+r/(m

+ l)]

eqn. (11) can be drawn

respectively. Making use of the parameters

%I

=

[PA%)

It is also possible

+ l)] + (m + 1) In s

thus determined,

the cumulative probability P,(s) of an earthquake occurring in a period between 0 and s for the i th precursor can readily be calculated. On the condition that no earthquake occurs for a period between 0 and sr, the probability of an earthquake occurring between sr and s2 is obtained as: P;(S,,

= ln[ K/(m

line representing

by means of the least-squares method. In this way parameters K/(m + 1) and m + 1 are obtained from actual data. The parameters thus determined are given in Table 6 for disciplines f, t, r and H,

(IO)

we obtain: In ln(l/R)

vs. In s and a Weibull distribution

f (foreshock).

-P,h)l/[l-

to estimate

phdl (12) the mean value of

(IO). Since P can be calculated from the frequency distribution such as shown in Figs. 9 and 10 for an

s and consequently that of T as denoted by To using the parameters, although no formula for estimation is shown here. To’s are also given in Table 6. Judging from the mean precursor time thus obtained, it is clear that the precursor disciplines in Table 6 provide extremely short-term

appropriate As, we can have In ln(l/R) vs. In s plots for actual data as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, respectively, for disciplines f and H. In that case, a

ones. With the parameters given in Table 6, temporal changes in the probability p, of an earthquake

(11) by taking

TABLE

double

logarithms

of both sides of eqn.

6

Parameters,

data numbers

and mean precursor

times for precursors

of the 2nd and 3rd kinds

Discipline

Abbreviation

Data number

V(m+f)

l?t+1

Foreshock

f

122

0.0159

3.17

Tilt (pendulum)

t

46

0.00000359

8.30

Resistivity

(variometer)

Strain (volume)

G (day) 2.00 18.6

r

30

0.0254

5.24

0.0708

H

25

0.0142

3.65

0.776

207

p is given by: p=l/

[

1+

i

~~~(l/Pi-l))/(l/P~-l).-l

1

03)

Fig. 12. Plots of In In (l/R) fitting

for discipline

vs. In s and a Weibull distribution

H (volume

strain).

occurring within a prescribed period, 1 day say, are calculated as shown in Fig. 13 for disciplines r, H, f and t, respectively. 4. Temporal change in synthetic probability of

earthquake occurrence in association successive appearances of precursors

with

Utsu (1977, 1979, 1982, 1983), Aki (1981), Hamada (1983) and others have developed theories for evaluating the synthetic probability of earthquake occurrence when multiple precursors are observed. Following Utsu (1977), a formula for the probability of success of an earthquake prediction is used in the following to evaluate the synthetic probability of earthquake occurrence when a number of precursors of various disciplines are observed one by one. According to Utsu (1977), synthetic probability

I\f‘.. t“i Ii

---__

u

-

10

Fig. 13. Probabilities when precursors

20

TIME

30

of an earthquake

of disciplines

40

50

(days) occurring

within

r, H, f and t are observed.

1 day

on the condition that n independent precursors are observed and that the probabilities of respective precursors are given by pl, p2, . . . , p,,. p. is the probability of success when a prediction is made at random. The evaluation of p. is a matter of dispute, although it is customary to estimate p. from the seisrnicity in the area to be treated. As for pl, p2, . . . . p,, which are functions of time, we may rely on the probabilities for various disciplines evaluated in the last section. An example of estimating the synthetic probability will be given in the following, based on the reported precursors prior to the Izu-Oshima Kinkai earthquake (M = 7.0, 1978). The precursors are already given in Table 3. As assumed by Utsu (1979) we presume that the preliminary probability p. is given by: p. = T/( 100 x 365.25)

04)

on the assumption that an A4 > 6.5 earthquake occurs once in a lOO-yr period in the Izu Peninsula area concerned, where 7 denotes the time interval during which an earthquake is expected to occur. pi can be obtained using eqns. (7) and (12) and 7 is equal to t, - t,. When 7 is assumed as 3 h, 1, 3, 10 and 100 days, we have p. = 0.00000342, 0.0000274, 0.0000822, O.ooO274 and 0.00274, respectively. It is highly likely that precursor signals contain much noise. In other words, the probability that a precursor-like signal is false is very high. Sato and Inouchi (1977) pointed out that only 9 instances out of 56 anomalous land uplifts in Japan culminated in the occurrence of an earthquake. Therefore, the true probability of earthquake occurrence should be equal to aipi instead of pi, where pi’s are the probabilities for various precursor disciplines which can be calculated using the parameters given in Tables 4, 5 and 6, and (Y~‘S are the factors indicating the rate of appearance of the true precursor. In the case of land uplift revealed by geodetic surveys, the above data leads to (pi = 0.16, the subscript being written as 1 with

reference to the precursor numbers in Table 3, Mogi (1963), who examined about 1500 earthquakes of magnitude equal to or greater than 4 in Japan, concluded that only 4% of the earthquakes are accompanied by foreshocks. He also showed, however, that the rate of earthquakes with foreshocks amounts to 20% in the vicinity of the Izu Peninsula. We therefore assume that cy14and ty,, are equal to 0.2 for discipline f (foreshock-precursors 14 and 15) in the following probability evaluation. At the present stage of investigation, however, no exact value of LY;is available for other disciplines because of scarcity of data. In the circumstances, it can be assumed rather arbitrarily that (Y,= l/20 (i = 2, 3, . . . , 13) for precursor disciplines in Table 3 except 1 and f. Such a procedure is certainly unsatisfactory for the act& evaluation of probabihty~ but no other means that leads to a better result can be found at the moment. It is hoped that the accurate evaluation of (Y~will, in future, be achieved as more and more precursor data are accumulated. Replacing pi in eqn. (13) by arpi and using appropriate values of pay temporal changes in synthetic probability are calculated as shown in Figs. 14-18 respectively for r = 3 h, 1, 3, 10 and 100 days. It is assumed that precursor 1 (the land upfift at Nakaizu) was observed at d = 0. In Figs.

z

3

5678

9-m

III/

IllHI M.

$

s.

Ii ii

2

3

I I

1-P

I

.8

il 800

850

900 TIME

1100 (days)

Fig. IS. Changes in synthetic probability for 1‘= 1 day.

14-18, only the changes in probability after t = 800 days are shown. Up to that point, the probability is so small that it is virtually coincident with the zero line. The precursor appearances are indicated by the bars at the top of each figure; it can be seen that discontinuous increases in probability curves take place when short-term precursors such as numbers 3 (underground water, u), 4 (radon, i), 6 (radon, i} and so on are observed. On the other hand, whenever we have long-term precursors such as numbers 7 (earth currents, e) and 8 (geomagnetic field, g), the probability tends to drop to some extent. Such a tendency is observed more markedly for probability curves for a smaller value of 7. It is observed, however, that when a large value is assigned to T the probability increases successively with no marked fluctuations as precursors appear one by one. Assuming 7 = 100 days, for instance, the probability reaches 0.95 at around

I I

I

~

0 800

i’ 1 IA,, ti

l-

850

900 TIME

950

1000

1050

1100

(days)

Fig. 14. Changes in synthetic probability of earthquake occurrence for ‘I = 3 h. The occurrence times of respective precmsors are shown by vertical bars at the top, while the occurrence time of the main shock of the fzu-Oshima Kin&i earthquake is indicated by an arrow. The abscissa denotes the time (in days) after the appearance of precursor 1.

Fig. 16. Changes in synthetic probability for T = 3 days.

209

a

I

II

I I

II

III II NJ%

1-P .a .6 .4

0

800

850

900 950 T 1ME (days)

1000

1050

1100

Fig. 17. Changes in synthetic probability for 7 = 10 days. t = 1020

days. If one were to issue a prediction at about that date that an earthquake would occur within a period of 100 days, the prediction would be successful because the main shock occurred about 80 days later. For an extremely short-term or imminent prediction, the actual publication of the prediction seems to be no easy matter because of the fluctuations of synthetic probability as shown in Figs. 14-17. It might be better for such a prediction to rely only on short-term signals such as volume strain (H), underground water (u), radon (i), foreshock (f) and the like, assuming that signals belonging to long-term precursors observed at that stage are all false. 5. Conclusions Analyzing the data set of earthquake precursors so far collected in Japan, it is shown that we can define D,_ , the maximum detectable distance of 4

ii

1000

T I ME (days)

1050

1100

Fig. 18. Changes in synthetic probability for 7 = 100 days.

a precursor, as a function of main shock magnitude M. D,,,, is different from discipline to discipline of precursor. When a number of precursors are observed, we may draw circles with a radius peculiar to the precursor discipline, centered at respective observation points. In the procedure we assume a suitable value of M. In that case the epicenter of a future earthquake should be located in the area which is common to all the circles. If the assumed magnitude is too small, some of the circles do not overlap with one another. If it is too large, the area becomes too wide to be regarded as an actual epicentral area. In such a way we may infer the approximate location of the epicenter and the rough value of the earthquake magnitude at the same time. Applying the above-mentioned procedure to the reported precursors of the 1978 Izu-Oshima Kinkai (M = 7.0) and the 1964 Niigata (M = 7.5) earthquakes, remarkable success is achieved in assessing the main shock epicenter and magnitude. When a number of precursor-like signals are observed in series, it is also possible to evaluate changes in the synthetic probability of earthquake occurrence within a specified time interval 7, based on the empirically obtained probability of earthquake occurrence for precursors of various disciplines. The main shock magnitude involved in the evaluation has to be assessed in some way. An approach as discussed in the earlier half of this paper may be useful for that purpose. As an example, temporal changes in synthetic probability are estimated on the basis of the data taken before the Izu-Oshima Kinkai earthquake, for which a considerable number of precursor-like signals have been observed, as shown in Table 3. It turns out that the probability of earthquake occurrence in a time interval 7 generally increases as precursors are observed one by one. Such an increase is considerable for a short-term precursor. When a long-term precursor happens to appear, however, the probability drops discontinuously, although it tends to increase again as time goes on. Such a fluctuation is more considerable for smaller values of 7, so that a short-term earthquake prediction is more difficult than a long-term one.

210

The difficulties involved in the above evaluation of probability are twofold: the first is that the preliminary probabi~ty involved is not known very well, and the second is that the accurate probability of a signal representing a true precursor is hard to evaluate for most precursor disciplines. In the circumstances, it appears that no accurate estimate of the absolute value of probabi~ty is possible at the present stage of investigation. Even so, temporal changes in probability as presented in this paper may provide some clues for issuing earthquake predictions, which are strongly demanded by the public at large. The precursor-like phenomena analyzed here are identified as precursors after occurrence of the earthquake. In order to prove the validity of the approach proposed here, it is necessary to apply the method to actual precursors observed before an earthquake. It is hopefully expected that we will be able to monitor precursors for the Tokai earthquake which, it is feared, will occur in Central Japan in the near future, using a well equipped observation network. In that eventuality, the present approach could be tested. Judging from the speed of accumulation of precursor data under the nationwide programme of earthquake prediction in Japan, the empirical nature of precursors of various disciplines will be brought to light more clearly in the foreseeable future. In that case a more accurate evaluation of the synthetic probability of earthquake occurrence will certainly be accomplished.

Aki, K., 1981. A probabilistic mena.

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Acknowledgment

pheno(Editors),

associated

their relationships.

with earthquake

Earthquake

Predict.

predicRes., 2: