Russian scientists have unique Baikal deep geophysical station at which the equipment is placed for long-term monitoring of the electric field of the Earth, the data from this facility is expected to enable scientists to predict strong earthquakes in a few tens of hours before they begin, the director of the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Irkutsk ( ISU) Nick weekdays.
"The first set of autonomous deep-sea station installed at a distance of nine miles from the shore, where the depth is 1370 meters. In addition, the bank is mounted magnetic variation station with the system of collection and rapid transmission of information, "- said the weekdays.
In 2003, scientists began on Lake Baikal research to determine the feasibility of observing various processes in the lake, the underlying lithosphere, as well as in the atmosphere, the ionosphere and the sun according to the oscillations of the electromagnetic field. Studies conducted on the basis of the Baikal Neutrino Observatory.
Scientists have created a special unit, which is a giant electric aerial larger than a kilometer. In August 2008, it became possible to fix the major changes and unusual variation of the electric field on the eve of a major earthquake with its epicenter in the south of Lake Baikal (eight points). In the data, as explained by everyday life, there are two types of "objective precursors of seismic event": late — 15 hours before the earthquake and earlier — starting two days before it.
Scientists believe that the observed phenomenon is of tectonic nature, but, as noted Budnev, details of the mechanism of the electromagnetic field changes before the earthquake require clarification and verification. To do this, ISU developed more sophisticated equipment on the base of which is expected to create a network of deep-sea stations for long-term multi-parameter observations — the first of them earned on Tuesday in the area of the Baikal Neutrino Observatory.