Swarm Magnetic Measurements: Bearer of Potential Nepal Earthquake Precursors?

Abstract

Satellites carrying magnetometers have provided measurements which have given us the ability to obtain an improved description of the geomagnetic field. With the launch of Swarm constellation in 2013, for the first time, we are able to analyze the Earth's magnetic field variations and make available a truly unique window into a large number of key processes within the Earth system, many of which are difficult to fully observe in any other way. Swarm mission has provided data that are not only critically valuable on their own, but also an excellent complement to other geophysical data.Here, taking advantage of the measurements accuracy provided by the Swarm magnetic satellites, the possibility to detect some pre-earthquake magnetic anomalous signals, likely due to a lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling is investigated. We focus our analysis of a possible precursor signature in the geomagnetic and ionospheric data obtained from Swarm satellites, related to the recent M7.8 earthquake occurred in Nepal (25 April 2015).