Atmospheric plasmas research linked to electromagnetic signals and earthquakes

Abstract

This paper presents the outcome of monitoring aimed at studying seismic precursor candidates with a multi-parameter system, carried out at a Science Camp in July 2022 in the northwestern Italian Apennines, in the province of Parma. Pre seismic signals, closely related to the preparatory stages of an earthquake, were detected with a crustal diagnosis, based on physical signals, generated by tectonic stress. The instrumental results show a potential temporal concatenation, which describe, at the level of hypothesis, the phases of the ongoing tectonic stress. The model followed Zou’s theories who which associate the formation of plasmas in the atmosphere with the piezoelectricity of rocks under stress. According to his model, rocks placed under tectonic stress and in the presence of moisture can produce both charged particles and radio electromagnetic waves, at high and low frequencies. A spherical plasmoid would originate from this combination as a wave-particle interaction effect. According to Teodorani’s description High-Frequency radio waves-particularly microwaves-would heat and ionize the surrounding air, while low-frequency waves, particularly Very Low Frequencies and Extremely Low Frequency, would help condense the plasma, which in turn would immediately go into swirling motions within it, until it formed the «self-contained» structure seen in the sky as a light phenomenon. Monitoring, therefore, involved the detection of low-frequency waves preceding plasmas in the atmosphere, directional electromagnetic signals from the Radio Direction Finding (RDF) network, and the occurrence of an earthquake within the 5/6 days’ time window along the same fracture line. A study model that, if confirmed, could be applied to other seismic zones for crustal monitoring.