OBSERVATION OF OLR ANOMALY PRIOR TO

THE SUMATRA AND ANDAMAN REGION

EARTHQUAKES (M>6.0) FROM 2014 TO 2018

N. Venkatanathan

J. Ramya
Department of Physics, School of EEE
SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur,
India
INTRODUCTION
 Prior to earthquakes - OLR anomaly observed.
 Radon gas emission - voids of rocks – leads to the
anomalous rise.
 The advantage

 The round the clock monitoring.

 Observe the broader region.
 Measured - altitude of 10 to 12 km - satellite
technology.
 For the clear sky condition, the raw OLR data is
processed for 10 to 13 µm wavelength region.
𝑬𝒙𝒚 −𝑬𝒙𝒚
Flux index (∆𝑬𝒙𝒚 ) =
σ𝒙𝒚
2014-03-21 114KM ESE OF MOHEAN, INDIA 2014-05-18
LATITUDE (N) 7.7448 OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
LONGITUDE(E) 94.3342 LATITUDE (N) 4.2485
DEPTH 21.54 LONGITUDE(E) 92.7574
MAG 6.4 DEPTH 35
MAG 6

26-02-2014 02-05-2014
 2016-12-06 14KM WNW OF REULEUET,
2014-07-05 86KM SE OF SINABANG, INDONESIA INDONESIA
LATITUDE (N) 1.9335 LATITUDE (N) 5.2834
LONGITUDE(E) 96.9388
DEPTH 20 LONGITUDE(E) 96.1678
MAG 6 DEPTH 13
MAG 6.5

08-06-2014 03-12-2016
2017-03-14 230KM SSW OF MOHEAN, INDIA, 2015-11-08 128KM NW OF SABANG,INDONESIA
LATITUDE (N) 6.1457 LATITUDE (N) 6.8431
LONGITUDE(E) 92.3044 LONGITUDE(E) 94.648
DEPTH 10 DEPTH 10
MAG 6 MAG 6.6

dEINDEX
3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
8/29/2015 9/29/2015 10/29/2015
-0.5

18-02-2017 12-09-2015 -1

-1.5
INFERENCE

 If the flux index value is above 1.96 (2 level), then it

can be considered as an anomalous flux index (AFI).
 The AFI observed prior to the occurrence of earthquakes
in terms of days was marked at the top of the each bar
chart.
CONCLUSION
 Pre-earthquake scenario of Sumatra – Andaman
region earthquakes (M≥6) occurred from 2014 to
2018 is analyzed.
 Correlation between the appearance of OLR
anomaly and the occurrence of big earthquakes has
been obtained.
 The anomalous variations were observed within a
month prior to the devastating earthquakes.
 Hence, observation of OLR anomaly can be used as
an effective tool to forecast earthquakes on short-
term basis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We greatly indebted to Ministry of Earth Sciences for financial
assistance (Project No: MoES/P.O(seismo)/1(343)/2018). The authors would
thank to acknowledge NOAA for making OLR data available to the user
community.

QUERIES?