The analysis of the trigger action exerted by electromagnetic fields on a geological medium: Quantitative estimates of the interaction

Abstract

By analyzing the threshold levels of the triggering action, we quantitatively substantiate the changes in the energy of the triggering impact for the cases of the initiation of the lowand high-energy earthquakes depending on the seismic activity of the medium. The analysis is based on the data on the seismicity caused by the high-power electric pulses and geomagnetic field of the magnetic storms with sudden commencement. The analysis of the threshold levels of the triggering action indicates that the energy level required for triggering grows with the increase in the energy class of the earthquake. This is inconsistent with the facts of initiation of strong earthquakes by physical fields in the absence of evident high-energy sources of triggering. The probable explanation suggests that if the source of a strong earthquake is adjoined by local potential sources, the rupturing of one of the local potential sources caused by an energetically weak pulsed impact of the physical fields by the triggering scenario leads to the initiation of a strong earthquake.