How Effective and Prerequisite Are Electromagnetic Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Recordings in the Schumann Resonances Band to Function as Seismic Activity Precursors

ABSTRACT

ELF recordings, especially in the 0–50 Hz range (Schumann Resonances), have gained great interest during the last twenty years because of their possible relation to many geophysical, climatological, solar, and even biological phenomena, which several well-known scientists have reported. A very important question that still has not been answered is whether some particular variations in the Schumann Resonances (SR) band operate as precursors of forthcoming seismic activity. Greece and the wider Mediterranean area are a very seismic territory where medium size earthquakes (4–6.5 Richter) occur very often, contributing to a high percentage of the natural hazards of the area. In our effort to make evident how effective and prerequisite SR recordings are in the detection of forthcoming earthquakes, we analyze data collected for almost five years by two SR stations located in the north and the south edge of the Greek territory, respectively. We have come to the conclusion that particular SR modulations are very useful in the predictability of forthcoming seismic activity, but they need to be completed with additional observations of adjoining effects which can contribute to the final decision.