Influence of strong electromagnetic fields on the seismotectonic strain rate.

This paper discusses the influence of high-energy electromagnetic pulses of magnetohydrodynamic generators used as transmitters when carrying out deep electrical sounding of the crust in the Garm region, Tajikistan, and North Tian Shan on the rate of seismotectonic strains in these two most seismically active regions of Central Asia. Variations of seismotectonic strains in the Garm region for 36 years of observations and in the North Tian Shan region for 22 years are considered. It has been shown for both regions that the impact of electromagnetic pulses increases the rate of seismotectonic strains 10–20 times, which leads to additional release of elastic stresses in the crust by 0.4–1.7 bar, thereby reducing the probability of the occurrence of strong earthquakes. Spatial variations of the strain rate during irradiation have been studied, and the correlation between the variations and the level of the stress in the crust has been identified. It has been shown that the variation of the strain rate during irradiation can be used as a criterion for active monitoring of the strained condition of the environment in order to forecast the locations and times of strong earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]