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Freund F, Stolc V. Nature of Pre-Earthquake Phenomena and their Effects on Living Organisms. Animals (Basel). 2013;3(2):513-31doi: 10.3390/ani3020513.
Freund, F., & Stolc, V. (2013). Nature of Pre-Earthquake Phenomena and their Effects on Living Organisms. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 3(2), 513-31. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani3020513
Freund, Friedemann, and Stolc, Viktor. "Nature of Pre-Earthquake Phenomena and their Effects on Living Organisms." Animals : an open access journal from MDPI vol. 3,2 (2013): 513-31. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani3020513
Freund F, Stolc V. Nature of Pre-Earthquake Phenomena and their Effects on Living Organisms. Animals (Basel). 2013 Jun 06;3(2):513-31. doi: 10.3390/ani3020513. PMID: 26487415; PMCID: PMC4494396.
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Animals (Basel). 2013 Jun 06;3(2):513-31. doi: 10.3390/ani3020513.

Nature of Pre-Earthquake Phenomena and their Effects on Living Organisms.

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI

Friedemann Freund, Viktor Stolc

Affiliations

  1. GeoCosmo Science Group, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. [email protected].
  2. Department of Physics, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA. [email protected].
  3. Earth Sciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. [email protected].
  4. Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. [email protected].

PMID: 26487415 PMCID: PMC4494396 DOI: 10.3390/ani3020513

Abstract

Earthquakes occur when tectonic stresses build up deep in the Earth before catastrophic rupture. During the build-up of stress, processes that occur in the crustal rocks lead to the activation of highly mobile electronic charge carriers. These charge carriers are able to flow out of the stressed rock volume into surrounding rocks. Such outflow constitutes an electric current, which generates electromagnetic (EM) signals. If the outflow occurs in bursts, it will lead to short EM pulses. If the outflow is continuous, the currents may fluctuate, generating EM emissions over a wide frequency range. Only ultralow and extremely low frequency (ULF/ELF) waves travel through rock and can reach the Earth surface. The outflowing charge carriers are (i) positively charged and (ii) highly oxidizing. When they arrive at the Earth surface from below, they build up microscopic electric fields, strong enough to field-ionize air molecules. As a result, the air above the epicentral region of an impending major earthquake often becomes laden with positive airborne ions. Medical research has long shown that positive airborne ions cause changes in stress hormone levels in animals and humans. In addition to the ULF/ELF emissions, positive airborne ions can cause unusual reactions among animals. When the charge carriers flow into water, they oxidize water to hydrogen peroxide. This, plus oxidation of organic compounds, can cause behavioral changes among aquatic animals.

Keywords: ELF (extremely low frequency) waves; ULF (ultralow frequency) waves; air ionization; hydrogen peroxide; physiological effects; positive holes; pre-earthquake phenomena; water oxidation

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