| Session Details | |
| Section | ST - Solar & Terrestrial Sciences |
| Session Title | Earthquake Precursor Studies - Current and Future |
| Main Convener | Prof. Koichiro Oyama (National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Borra Reddy (CSIR, India) Prof. Masashi Hayakawa (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan) Dr. Sarmoko Saroso (LAPAN, Indonesia) Dr. Biqiang Zhao (IGGCAS, China) |
| Session Description | Prediction of Earthquakes has not made any progress inspite of elaborate networks to record swarms of micro-earthquakes preceding major quakes. In the last three decades more than two thousand papers have been published to support some observable changes connected to seismo-genic activity, but no credibility has been established because the signals are swamped by noise and other solar-terrestrial effects. Clearly, seismicity couples the Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere system and sophisticated techniques are required to identify the signals. The recent years have seen precursor features of several large earthquakes discussed through infra-red observations, cloud observations, ionospheric measurements etc.. Among these, ionospheric precursors are well documented. Though ionospheric observations show some promise, the weakest link has been a lack of proper identification of physical processes coupling earthquake preparation with ionospheric departures. In view of its great impact on humanity, discussion on this area should be encouraged in spite of the low credibility so far. More satellite missions such as DEMETER of France perhaps should be planned and the session will host results as well as plans by the Geoscience community to make advances in this discipline! |