TITLE:
Advantages of GNSS in Monitoring Crustal Deformation for Detection of Precursors to Strong Earthquakes
AUTHORS:
Guohua Gu, Wuxing Wang
KEYWORDS:
Crustal Deformation; Earthquake Prediction; Precursor to Earthquake; Wenchuan Earthquake; Tohoku Earthquake in Japan; GPS; GNSS
JOURNAL NAME:
Positioning,
Vol.4 No.1,
February
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Earthquake predictions inChinahave had rare successes but suffered more tragic setbacks since the Xintai
earthquake in 1966. They have developed with twists and turns under the
influence of the viewpoint that earthquakes are unpredictable etc. Though the Wenchuan
earthquake of M8.0 in2008 inChina and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake of M9.0 inJapan were failed to predict, the GPS
observations before and after these 2 events have shown that there were precursors to these events and large
earthquakes are predictable. Features of different observation techniques, data
processing methods are compared and some recent studies on precursory crustal
deformations are summarized, so various advantages of GPS technique in monitoring
crustal deformation are emphasized. The facts show that anomalies or precursors
detected from GPS observations before the great Wenchuan earthquake have been
the most remarkable results of explorations on crustal movements and earthquake precursors in China. GPS is in deed an excellent
observation technique for earthquake prediction.