Near-field TEC response to the main shock of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Edward L Afraimovich (1) , Ding Feng (2) , Vladislav V Kiryushkin (1) , Elvira Astafyeva (1, 3, 4)

1 ISTP - Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics [Irkutsk]
2 IGG - Institute of Geology and Geophysics [Beijing]
3 Hokkaido University [Sapporo, Japan]
4 IPGP - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris

We have registered near-field TEC response to the Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008, for the first time. We found that an intensive N-shape shock-acoustic wave with a plane waveform and with half-period of about 200 sec propagated south-eastward with a velocity of 600 m/s for distance about 1000 km. The wavefront of N-shaped disturbance was parallel with the earthquake rupture direction (from SW to NE). The main directional lobe of shock-acoustic wave emitter is directed southeastward, i.e. transversely to the rupture. We suppose that the above properties of TEC response are determined by the geodynamics of the Wenchuan earthquake.

Mots clés: total electron content; Wenchuan earthquake; earthquakes; GPS

Domaines: Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]

Edward L Afraimovich, Ding Feng, Vladislav V Kiryushkin, Elvira Astafyeva. Near-field TEC response to the main shock of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Earth Planets and Space, 2009, 62 (11), pp.899-904. ⟨10.5047/eps.2009.07.002⟩. ⟨insu-02148609⟩