Two researchers from National Central University said on Tuesday they had discovered a co-seismic effect in the ionosphere that they say could help detect tsunamis earlier.
Liu Jann-yeng (劉正彥) and Yen Horng-yuan (顏宏元), from the Department of Earth Science, said their research found that earth tremors could prompt a similar movement in the ionosphere, which can be monitored from the ground.
The ionosphere consists of several ionized layers 80km to 400km above the surface of the Earth.
An earth movement of 8m will be magnified and transformed into a vibration across 80km in the ionosphere, Liu said.
By monitoring the time and location of the vibration of the ionosphere, scientists may be able to determine the source of the earth movement, Liu said.
For example, he said, the research team used the data from vibrations in the ionosphere to pinpoint the epicenter of the 921 Earthquake in 1999, which had a magnitude of 7.3 and was centered 30km northeast of Jiji (集集), Nantou County.
Yen said the research has proved a correlation, called a co-seismic effect, between earthquakes and ionospheric vibrations and the latter might determine the source of a quake.
The movement of the surface of the sea causes similar ionospheric vibrations and by monitoring the latter, the source of the movement can be identified, he said.
The theory helped him work out the time and location of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Yen said.
The findings of the study could give forecasters about half an hour to an hour to issue a warning before a tsunami arrives, he said.
Yen said he was motivated to study the co-seismic effect between quakes and ionospheric movement after the 921 Earthquake, but when he first publicized his theory in 2005, it was greeted with skepticism.
The research team’s perseverance bore fruit when the Journal of Geophysical Research published the findings last month, he said.
The journal, published by the American Geophysical Union, is devoted to research on the physical, chemical and biological processes that contribute to the understanding of the Earth and its solar system.
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