EP0067924A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method for predicting earthquakes
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1982-02-24
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2002-02-24
Abstract
Abstract The device monitors the electrical field present in the earth, by means of at least two electrodes buried in the earth. The electrodes are connected through a shielded lead to a differential amplifier (DA), followed by a filter (F), an amplifier with variable gain (AV), a triggering circuit (T) and an alarm organ (B). The circuitry of the device is dimensioned so as to detect preferentially pulses of less than a second duration and an intensity of 5 to 50 mV'm between the electrodes, and/or pulses with 1 to 30 minutes duration and an intensity of 40 to 400 µV/m between the electrodes. These two kinds of pulses occur generally a few minutes or less, and 6 - 8 hours before an earthquake, respectively, so that the latter can be predicted with sufficient accuracy.
Inventors
- 👤 Panagiotis Varotsos
- 👤 Caesar Alexopoulos
- 👤 Constantin Nomikos
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 02:04
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01V; G01V3/00; G01V3/08; G01V3/088; G01V1/00; G01V1/01
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
27 words
Method for predicting earthquakes, characterized by monitoring the electrical field present in the earth, so as to detect electrical pulses of a given duration and field strength.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
27 words
Method for predicting earthquakes, characterized by monitoring the electrical field present in the earth, so as to detect electrical pulses of a given duration and field strength.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
25 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized by the detection of pulses having less than a second duration, and an intensity of 5 to 50 mV/m.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
Method according to claim 2, characterized by the detection of pulses having less than 10 ms duration, and an intensity of 5 to 25 mV/m.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
Method according to claim 1, characterized by the detection of pulses having 1 to 30 min. duration, and an intensity of 40 - 400 tv/m.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
37 words
Method according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the monitoring is done at several places, and in that the times of occurrence and the intensities of the electrical pulses detected at said places are then compared.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
Device for predicting earthquakes according to the method of claim 1, characterized by at least two metallic electrodes of more than 100 cm 2 surface each, imbedded in the earth and connected through shielded lines to a difference amplifier.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
33 words
Device according to claim 6, characterized by electrodes which have a surface between 10 and 10'000 cm 2 , and are imbedded in the soil at a depth of 20 to 100 cm.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the electrodes are pillars of a building.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
Device according to any of claims 6 - 8, characterized in that the amplifier has a floating ground.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
Device according to any of claims 6 - 9, characterized by at least one electrical filter connected between the electrodes and the amplifier for suppressing a given frequency.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the filter suppresses signals of a frequency lying between 50 and 100 Hz or between 60 and 120 Hz.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
Device according to claim 6, for performing the method of claim 4, characterized by a filter which suppresses signals with a frequency above 0.5 Hz.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
Device according to claim 6, for performing the method of claim 2 or 3, characterized by a filter which suppresses signals with a frequency below 1 Hz.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
Device according to claim 6, characterized by a switching circuit connected so as to trigger an alarm, when the amplifier detects pulses larger than a selectable predetermined value.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
30 words
Device according to any of claims 6 - 14, characterized by at least two pairs of electrodes, oriented so as to measure the field strength in two mutually perpendicular directions.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
70 words
Device according to any of claims 6 - 15, characterized by a microprocessor circuitry which comprises a memory containing data which defines a predetermined signal shape, where this circuitry is connected at the output of the amplifier, and arranged so as to compare the shape of signals appearing at said output with said predetermined shape, and to generate a signal at its own output when the two shapes are similar.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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