Characteristics and mechanisms of near-surface negative atmospheric electric field anomalies preceding the 5 September 2022, <i>M</i>_s&thinsp;6.8 Luding earthquake in China

Abstract

A magnitude 6.8 strike-slip earthquake (EQ) struck Luding, Sichuan Province, China, on 5 September 2022, resulting in significant damage to nearby Ganzi Prefecture and the city of Ya'an. In this research, the near-surface atmospheric electric field (AEF) recorded at four sites 15 d before the Luding EQ was analyzed and differentiated, and multisource auxiliary data including precipitation, cloud base height, and low cloud cover were used at the same time. Nine possible seismic AEF anomalies at four sites were obtained preliminarily. Accordingly, microwave brightness temperature (MBT) data, which are very sensitive to the surface dielectrics and are closely related to the air ionization, together with surface soil moisture, lithology, and a 3D-simulated crustal stress field, were jointly analyzed to confirm the seismic relations of the obtained negative AEF anomalies. The geophysical environment for crustal high-stress concentration, positive charge carrier transfer, and surface accumulation was demonstrated to exist and to meet the conditions necessary to generate local negative AEF anomalies. Furthermore, to deal with the spatial disparities in sites and regions with potential atmospheric ionization, near-surface wind field data were employed to scrutinize the reliability of the AEF anomalies by comprehensively analyzing the spatial relationships among surface charges accumulation areas, wind direction and speed, and the AEF sites. Finally, four negative AEF anomalies were deemed to be closely related to the Luding EQ, and the remaining five possible anomalies were ruled out. A possible mechanism of negative AEF anomalies before the Luding EQ is proposed: positive charge carriers were generated from the underground high-stress concentration areas and then transferred to and accumulated on the ground surface to ionize the surface air, thus disturbing the AEF above the ground. This study presents a method for identifying and analyzing seismic AEF anomalies and is also beneficial for the examination of the pre-earthquake coupling process between the coversphere and the atmosphere.