SEISMICITY of NORTHERN EURASIA in 2015

The review of the Northern Eurasia seismicity for 2015 includes a description of seismic networks, the results of analysis of the seismic regime and individual noticeable earthquakes in 16 regions of Russia and neighbouring countries. Seismic monitoring was carried out by the networks of seismic station of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, including 599 digital, 7 analogue stations and eight seismic groups. In 2015, these networks registered about 27 thousand tectonic earthquakes, over 6 thousand volcanic earthquakes, 599 explosions, 23 mountain-tectonic shocks and induced earthquakes. Focal mechanisms of 592 earthquakes were determined, the information on manifestations of 449 perceptible earthquakes was collected. 26 shocks were felt in settlements of Northern Eurasia with an intensity Ii≥5. According to estimates of the annual number and released seismic energy in 2015 in comparison with the long-term characteristics of the seismic regime, the seismic process in most regions of Northern Eurasia proceeded in the “background” regime. An exception is Tajikistan and adjacent territories, where two strong earthquakes occurred – the Hindu Kush earthquake on October 26 with Mw=7.5, h=230 km in northern Afghanistan, near the border with Tajikistan, and the Sarez earthquake on December 7 with Mw=7.2, Ms=7.6, h=20 km in Tajikistan. Both earthquakes were accompanied by numerous aftershocks and were felt in Tajikistan with intensities Imax=7 and Imax=7–8 respectively, on the MSK-64 scale. Notable event on the territory of Northern Eurasia in 2015 is the emergence of the Muyakan sequence of earthquakes, the largest for the period of instrumental observations in the region "Baikal and Transbaikalia", as a result of which the number of recorded earthquakes in the region quadrupled concerning 2014. The other interesting fact is occurrence of tangible earthquakes in the regions, traditionally considered weakly seismic – near the Semipalatinsk test area in Eastern Kazakhstan (Chingiz earthquake on January 20, Ms=4.1, I0=5–6), in the Middle Urals (Middle Ural earthquake on October 18 with ML=4.7, I0=6) and in the southwest of East -European platform (Poltava earthquake on February 3 with KR=10.7, I0=6).

Microseismicity and lithosphere thickness at a nearly amagmatic mid-ocean ridge

Successive flip-flop detachment faults in a nearly-amagmatic region of the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) at 64°30'E accommodate ~100% of plate divergence, with mostly ultramafic seafloor. As magma is the main heat carrier to the oceanic lithosphere, the nearly-amagmatic SWIR 64°30'E is expected to have a very thick lithosphere. Here, our microseismicity data shows a 15-km thick seismogenic lithosphere, actually thinner than the more magmatic SWIR Dragon Flag detachment with the same spreading rate. This challenges current models of how spreading rate and melt supply control the thermal regime of mid-ocean ridges. Microearthquakes with normal focal mechanisms are colocated with seismically imaged damage zones of the detachment and reveal hanging-wall normal faulting, which is not seen at more magmatic detachments at the SWIR or the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We also document a two-day seismic swarm, interpret as caused by an upward-migrating melt intrusion in the detachment footwall (6-11 km), triggering a sequence of shallower (~1.5 km) tectonic earthquakes in the detachment fault plane. This points to a possible link between sparse magmatism and tectonic failure at melt-poor ultraslow ridges.

EDUKASI DAN MITIGASI GEMPA PADA BANGUNAN

A natural disaster is a natural event that has a major impact on the human population. One of the natural events that became the focus of this PKM activity was an earthquake. Earthquakes are natural events in the form of vibrations or wavy movements on the earth's crust caused by internal forces. Earthquakes caused by shifting of the ground are called tectonic earthquakes and earthquakes caused by volcanoes are called volcanic earthquakes. Indonesia is an earthquake-prone area because it is located on three plates, namely the Eurasian Plate, the Pacific Plate, and the Indo-Australian Plate. Only in western, central and southern Kalimantan, the source of the earthquake was not found. To reduce the impact of risk during an earthquake, it is necessary to carry out an earthquake mitigation to the community in areas prone to earthquakes. Earthquake mitigation that will be carried out in this PKM activity is in the form of counseling through online webinars to prevent physical contact or crowds, related to the Covid19 pandemic. As a result, from the questions asked by participants, there is still a lack of understanding of the dangers of changing the function of the building or the building's use limit based on the design load and the condition of the building after the earthquake. So for the next PKM, it is recommended to make general information guidelines such as examples of photos or pictures about the condition of buildings that need to be reviewed for repairs or are no longer suitable for use after being hit by an earthquake.Bencana alam adalah suatu peristiwa alam yang mengakibatkan dampak besar bagi populasi manusia. Salah satu peristiwa alam yang menjadi fokus dalam kegiatan PKM ini adalah gempa bumi. Gempa bumi merupakan fenomena alam berupa getaran atau gerakan bergelombang pada lempeng bumi yang disebabkan oleh tenaga yang berasaldari dalam bumi. Gempa yang disebabkan oleh pergeseran tanah dinamakan gempa tektonik dan gempa yang disebabkan oleh gunung berapi dinamakan gempa vulkanik. Indonesia merupakan daerah rawan gempa karena terletak di atas tiga lempeng yakni Lempeng Eurasia, Lempeng Pasifik, dan Lempeng Indo-Australia. Hanya di Kalimantan bagian barat, tengah, dan selatan, sumber gempa bumi tidak ditemukan. Untuk mengurangi dampak resiko pada saat gempa perlu dilakukan suatu mitigasi gempa kepada masyarakat di daerah yang rawan terjadi gempa bumi. Mitigasi gempa yang akan dilakukan dalam kegiatan PKM ini berupa penyuluhan melalui webinar secara online untuk mencegah kontak fisik atau kerumunan, berhubungan dengan pandemi Covid19. Hasilnya, dari pertanyaan yang diajukan peserta, masih kurang pemahaman bahaya dari mengubah fungsi guna bangunan atau batas guna bangunan berdasarkan beban desain dan kondisi bangunan setelah gempa. Maka untuk PKM selanjutnya, disarankan membuat panduan informasi secara umum seperti contoh foto atau gambar tentang kondisi bangunan yang perlu ditinjau untuk perbaikan atau tidak layak guna lagi setelah terkena gempa.

Increment in the volcanic unrest and number of eruptions after the 2012 large earthquakes sequence in Central America

Understanding the relationship cause/effect between tectonic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions is a striking topic in Earth Sciences. Volcanoes erupt with variable reaction times as a consequence of the impact of seismic waves (i.e. dynamic stress) and changes in the stress field (i.e. static stress). In 2012, three large (Mw ≥ 7.3) subduction earthquakes struck Central America within a period of 10 weeks; subsequently, some volcanoes in the region erupted a few days after, while others took months or even years to erupt. Here, we show that these three earthquakes contributed to the increase in the number of volcanic eruptions during the 7 years that followed these seismic events. We found that only those volcanoes that were already in a critical state of unrest eventually erupted, which indicates that the earthquakes only prompted the eruptions. Therefore, we recommend the permanent monitoring of active volcanoes to reveal which are more susceptible to culminate into eruption in the aftermath of the next large-magnitude earthquake hits a region.

Seismic velocity structure of Unzen Volcano, Japan, and relationship to the magma ascent route during eruptions in 1990–1995

Subsurface structures may control the migration of magma beneath a volcano. We used high-resolution seismic tomography to image a low- P-wave velocity (Vp) zone beneath Unzen Volcano, Japan, at depths of 3–16 km beneath sea level. The top of this low-Vp zone is located beneath Mt. Fugendake of Unzen volcano, which emitted 0.21 km3 of dacitic magma as lava domes and pyroclastic flows during eruptions in 1990–1995. Based on hypocenter migrations prior to the 1990–1995 eruptions and modeled pressure source locations for recorded crustal deformation, we conclude that the magma for the 1990–1995 eruptions migrated obliquely upward along the top of the low-Vp zone. As tectonic earthquakes occurred above the deeper part of the low-Vp zone, the deep low-Vp zone is interpreted to be a high-temperature region (> 400 °C) overlying the brittle–ductile transition. By further considering Vs and Vp/Vs structures, we suggest that the deeper part of the low-Vp zone constitutes a highly crystalized magma-mush reservoir, and the shallower part a volatile-rich zone.

Disaster Mitigation Snake and Ladder Game to Improve Earthquake Disaster Preparedness (A Case Study: Yogyakarta 5 Senior High School)

Tectonic earthquakes are natural disasters that are difficult to predict when they occurs, therefore preparedness is needed to deal with them. This study aims to determine the improvement in student preparedness for tectonic earthquakes using Guncang Bumi snake and ladder learning media. This research is research and development using the ADDIE model (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). The research subjects were 63 students of class XI of Science. Data collection techniques used were test questions. The data analysis technique used is descriptive analysis and independent t-test analysis. Based on the independent t-test analysis obtained sig <0,05, it can be concluded that there is a difference in preparedness between the experimental class and the control class. Based on the calculation of the improvement in preparedness score, the percentage of improvement in disaster preparedness for the experimental class is 67,65%. The improvement percentage in preparedness for the control class was 32,35%. Both classes have improved but the improvement over much experimental class. Therefore it can be concluded that the use of the Guncang Bumi snake and ladder can improve preparedness for a tectonic earthquake disaster.

Occurrence of anomalies in soil radon volume activity before tectonic earthquakes

Research subject. Earthquakes are a global problem for the entire world population. Therefore, a search for ways to predict and prevent tectonic events is a highly relevant task. Despite the existence of controversial opinions on the possibility of predicting tectonic earthquakes, research in this direction continues. Among numerous possible precursors of earthquakes, anomalies in the volume radon activity (VRA) are the most physically justifed ones. The aim of this research was to compare the observed anomalies of soil radon with the recorded seismic events in order to fnd common patterns. The research area was the Kuril Islands. VRA monitoring was conducted at the South Kuril Geophysical Station of the Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Methods and materials. Measurements were carried out in the advective mode: soil air from a depth of 70 cm was forcibly delivered to the detector using a pump. For a retrospective analysis, we took registered seismic events with a magnitude greater than 4 that occurred within a radius of 500 km from the monitoring station in Yuzhno-Kurilsk during 2011–2018. Statistical data were processed using Microsoft Excel, Statistica software. Results. A method for comparing radon anomalies and earthquakes was developed. Using the developed methodology, it was found that the geodynamic criterion of ≥2 (the ratio of earthquake magnitude to logarithm of distance from event epicenter to the monitoring station in km) can be used when comparing VRA anomalies with tectonic earthquakes. Out of the 166 considered tectonic earthquakes meeting the geodynamic criterion of ≥2.148, the events were preceded by VRA anomalies. The position of the earthquakes was determined relative to the extremum of previous anomalous radon values in the time interval. Eac of the considered earthquakes meeting the geodynamic criterion ≥2, which had been preceded by a radon anomaly, occurred either after its extremum or coincided with it in time. Conclusions. The manifestation of tectonic earthquakes in VRA anomalies after passing the extremum can be considered as a short-term prognostic criterion and be used for distinguishing between “near” and “far” events.

Localized Enhancement of Infrared Radiation Temperature of Rock Compressively Sheared to Fracturing Sliding: Features and Significance

Previous experiments indicated that infrared radiation temperature (IRT) was applied in monitoring rock stress or rock mass fracturing, and abnormal IRT phenomena preceding rock failure or tectonic earthquakes were frequently reported. However, the characteristics of IRT changing with rock fracturing and frictional sliding are not clear, which leaves much uncertainties of location and pattern identification of stress-produced IRT. In this study, we investigated carefully the localized IRT enhancement of rock compressively sheared to fracturing and sliding (named as CSFS) with marble and granite specimens. Infrared thermogram and visible photos were synchronously observed in the process of rock CSFS experiment. We revealed that localized IRT enhancement was determined by local stress locking, sheared fracturing, and frictional sliding, and the relations between the Kcv of IRT and the shear force are almost linear in wave length 3.7–4.8 μm. In the process of rock CSFS, the detected ΔIRT which resulted from thermoelastic effect is 0.418 K, while the detected ΔIRT resulted from friction effect reaches up to 10.372 K, which is about 25 times to the former. This study is of potential values for infrared detection of rock mass failure in engineering scale and satellite remote sensing of the seismogenic process in the regional scale.

New Clues to Untangle the Question: Was the Volcanic Eruption Triggered by the Earthquake?

Understanding the cause/effect relationship between tectonic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions is a striking topic in Earth Sciences. Volcanoes may erupt due to the impact of seismic waves (i.e. dynamic stress) and changes in the stress field (i.e. static stress) with variable reaction times. In 2012, three large (Mw≥7.3) subduction earthquakes struck Central America within ten weeks; some volcanoes in the region erupted days after, meanwhile for others it took months to years to erupt. Here we show that the three earthquakes contributed to the increase in the number of volcanic eruptions during the seven years that followed. We found out that only those volcanoes that were already in a critical state of unrest effectively erupted, indicating that the earthquakes only prompted the eruptions. We recommend the permanent monitoring of active volcanoes to reveal which are more susceptible to culminate into eruption when the next large-magnitude earthquake hits a region.

Results of complex seismological, geophysical and geochemical researches on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan in 2016-2020

The work describes the research and development carried out at the DD GS RAS over the past 5 years, mainly of an innovative nature. These developments include the computer program "Con-struction the transfer function between time series based on the relative amplitudes of coherent harmonics", invention "Method for reconstructing dynamic processes in the earth's crust based on seismic observations ", implemented in computer program "Reconstruction of geodynamic processes based on seismic observations", SEISMO program, invention "Method for predicting tectonic earthquakes" implemented in the computer program "Detector of deformation anomalies parameters in the earth's crust based on areal observations of geofields", computer program "Maps builder of seismic station networks registration capabilities". Their application provided scientific results of a priority nature, the main of which are the identification of a significant cor-relation between time series of concentrations and dispersions of hydrogen and helium and the seismic regime of the region, establishment of dominance in atmospheric pressure variations and in the response to them of water levels in wells of semidiurnal harmonic, while in intraday fluc-tuations of weak seismicity, the 24-hour harmonic dominates, which unambiguously excludes atmospheric pressure from the possible causes of daily variations, correlation of synchronous peaks in the time variation of the intraday harmonics amplitudes in temperature observations in a well with the world's strongest earthquakes, establishment a fact of weak seismicity modulation by a semidiurnal tidal wave M2, detection in variations of weak seismicity along with the daily harmonic S1 (24h) of stable intraday harmonics S2 (12h), S3 (8h) and S4 (6h). A number of priori-ty results obtained in collaboration with employees of the Siberian Division GS RAS and the In-stitute of Physics of the Earth RAS are also described.