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Geodetic analysis for investigating possible seismo-ionospheric precursors related to the Ain Témouchent earthquake of December 22, 1999, in NW Algeria

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Abstract

The main aim of this research focuses on the seismo-geodetic data integration to identify the origin-time of seismic precursors through the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) parameter. The case study concerns the moderate-sized earthquake (Mw = 5.7) that occurred in Ain Témouchent-northwestern Algeria on December 22, 1999. The adopted approach is to reproduce the Global Positioning System (GPS)_TEC time-series signal in order to identify large-amplitude electron density perturbations in the ionized layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. Thus, we propose an analytical and interpretive method to identify the seismo-ionospheric precursor occurrence time of the polarized signal during the earthquake preparation phase. For this purpose, the use of geodetic data derived from signal processing of dual-frequency permanent ground-based GPS/Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers allowed us to identify ionospheric disturbances preceding the triggering of the mainshock. Furthermore, modeling the time occurrence of aftershocks revealed a strong correlation exists between the seismo-ionospheric precursors and the main aftershocks. Space geodesy techniques integrated into seismic networks achieve valuable enhancement to reinforce the Earthquake and Tsunami Early Warning System.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in https://cddis.nasa.gov/archive/gnss/data/ and https://www.ign.es/web/en/ign/portal/gds-gnss-datos-rinex.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Notes

  1. Estaciones de Referencia GNSS-Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España: the Spanish geodetic network of local GNSS reference stations. Nowadays, more than 100 permanent GPS/GNSS stations are distributed throughout the Spanish territory (five stations were available during our seismo-geodetic prediction study).

  2. The Receiver INdependent EXchange: an internationally recognized format for the easy exchange of collected raw GNSS data (used, here, for geodetic post-processing of the Rinex GPS_TEC data).

  3. First Algerian seismic monitoring network, installed in 1985 (in process of ceasing activities due to equipment obsolescence). From 2006, a new digital network (ADSN: Algerian Digital Seismic Network) was installed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Laboratory: Géoressources, Environnement Et Risques Naturels (GEOREN), Faculty of Earth Sciences and the Universes, University of Oran 2, Mohamed Ben Ahmed, B.P 1015 El M’naouer, 31000, Oran, Algeria

    Abdennasser Tachema & Abdelmansour Nadji

  2. Departamento de Física da Escola de Ciências E Tecnologia (ECT) da Universidade de Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho, 59, 7000-671, Evora, Portugal

    Mourad Bezzeghoud

  3. Instituto de Ciências da Terra da Universidade de Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho, 59, 7002-554, Evora, Portugal

    Mourad Bezzeghoud

Authors
  1. Abdennasser Tachema
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  2. Abdelmansour Nadji
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  3. Mourad Bezzeghoud
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the design and implementation of the research. Material preparation and data collections were made by Dr. Abdennasser Tachema and Prof. Abdelmansour Nadji. Data analysis and results were performed by Dr. Abdennasser Tachema, Prof. Abdelmansour Nadji, and Prof. Mourad Bezzeghoud. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dr. Abdennasser Tachema, and both co-authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Abdennasser Tachema.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Longjun Dong

Appendix

Appendix

Location of the ground-based IGS and ERGNSS receivers in the Western Mediterranean Basin

Table 3 and Fig. 8.

Table 3 Geographical location of the permanent GPS_IGS and GPS_ERGNSS ground receivers used to model the pre-earthquake ionospheric VTEC anomalies
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Fig. 8
figure 8

Location of the used geodetic sites, belonging to the IGS and the Spanish GNSS Reference Stations (ERGNSS) Networks. IGS stations: shown in green triangles, ERGNSS stations: shown in blue triangles. The red star indicates the Ain Témouchent main earthquake epicenter (December 22, 1999; Mw = 5.7)

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Tachema, A., Nadji, A. & Bezzeghoud, M. Geodetic analysis for investigating possible seismo-ionospheric precursors related to the Ain Témouchent earthquake of December 22, 1999, in NW Algeria. Arab J Geosci 15, 1270 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10533-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10533-4

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