Insights into the Dead Sea Transform Activity through the study of fracture-induced electromagnetic radiation (FEMR) signals before the Syrian-Turkey earthquake (Mw-6.3) on 20.2.2023

Shreeja Das; Vladimir Frid; Avinoam Rabinovitch; Dov Bahat; Uri Kushnir

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-54935-8

Insights into the Dead Sea Transform Activity through the study of fracture-induced electromagnetic radiation (FEMR) signals before the Syrian-Turkey earthquake (M_w-6.3) on 20.2.2023

Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 25;14(1):4579. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-54935-8.

Authors

Shreeja Das¹, Vladimir Frid², Avinoam Rabinovitch³, Dov Bahat⁴, Uri Kushnir⁵

Affiliations

¹ The Department of Civil Engineering, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, Ashdod Campus, 77662, Ashdod, Israel. shreeda@ac.sce.ac.il.
² The Department of Civil Engineering, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, Ashdod Campus, 77662, Ashdod, Israel. vladimirf@ac.sce.ac.il.
³ Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, 8410501, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
⁴ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, 8410501, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
⁵ The Department of Civil Engineering, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, Ashdod Campus, 77662, Ashdod, Israel.

Abstract

Observations of fracture-induced electromagnetic radiation (FEMR) were conducted along the Dead Sea Transform (DST) from Sodom to Jericho, coinciding with a magnitude (M_w) 6.3 aftershock earthquake (EQ) in the Turkey-Syrian region on February 20, 2023. The FEMR parameters ("hits," Benioff strain release, frequency, rise-time, energy) and associated crack dimensions were analyzed, focusing on trends leading up to the EQ. This study investigated the Benioff Strain plot and other parameters in three consecutive earthquake nucleation stages leading to the catastrophe. The first stage showed increased FEMR hits and frequency, decreased rise time (T'), and crack dimensions. In the second stage, FEMR hits and crack width decreased while other parameters continued to rise, accumulating the second-highest energy, likely due to high-stress drop. The third stage exhibited steadily increasing FEMR hits and energy and a notable increase in crack dimensions, suggesting an imminent macro failure event. The cyclic trend in FEMR hits indicates alternating periods of high activity and silence, potentially linked to stress changes during crack propagation. Taken shortly before the earthquake, these measurements offer valuable insights into how FEMR parameters vary before seismic events, bridging the gap between lab-scale studies of rock collapses under stress and large-scale failure phenomena.