ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2024, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 87-98

Anomalous variations in total electron content in the ionosphere and geodynamic conditions for the 7-magnitude Uchturpan earthquake of January 22, 2024

S.A. Imashev 1 , S.I. Kuzikov 1 
1 Research Station RAS in Bishkek City, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Accepted: 04.07.2024
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2024-21-4-87-98
This study presents an analysis of geological-geophysical conditions and anomalous variations in the Total Electron Content (TEC) in the ionosphere for the Uchturpan earthquake (January 22, 2024, 18:09 UTC). The epicenter of the main seismic event was located 50 km west of the settlement of Uchturpan, near the junction of the southern boundary of the Tien-Shan Mountains and the Tarim Basin. One of the nodal planes of the fault in the hypocenter has an average strike at an azimuth of 235°, a northwest dip at an angle of 44°, and a slip direction of 46° from the horizontal. The focal mechanism characteristics and the hypocenter position of the main shock closely match the geological-geodetic parameters of the Maidan left-lateral thrust fault. The aftershock swarm forms a region about 25 km wide and stretches 60 km in a northeast direction. For the analysis of pre- and co-seismic TEC variations, global maps of TEC distribution from Jet Propulsion Laboratory data analysis center were processed. The TEC analysis over the epicenter of the main event showed an increase in values after January 9, 2024, reaching an extreme value after the main shock on January 22, 2024, against the background of diurnal periodicity with peaks in the interval of 05:00–09:00 UTC. Minor variations of the Dst index for January 2024 indicate that the observed anomalous TEC values are not a result of magnetic storms. Maps of the spatial distribution of TEC z-scores before the main event (January 9, 2024) and after it (January 23, 2024) showed the presence of anomalous variations, localized in space and time. The position of the anomalous zone after the main event had an elongated shape along the Maidan fault and the aftershock swarm zone.
Keywords: earthquake, Uchturpan, total electron content, anomalies, Maidan fault
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