EARTHQUAKE TRIGGERING THEORY
November 27, 2001

The following is an earthquake triggering theory which I am in the process of evaluating. It could be the first theory that I have been able to propose which is consistent with many of my earthquake triggering data. I would expect that variations of this theory have been proposed by other researchers over the years.

THEORY:

Phenomena such as ocean tides and the Solid Earth Tide produce oscillations within the Earth’s crust which can trigger earthquakes. Those oscillations are closely linked with the longitudes of the positions of the sun and the moon in the sky. At times they may have what might be referred to as peaks and troughs which are at the same locations as ocean or Solid Earth Tide crests and troughs. At other times those peaks and troughs may be at different locations. That could account for the failure of some past efforts to link earthquake triggering with the locations of tidal crests and troughs.

When a fault zone has accumulated enough strain energy that it is about ready to fracture on its own and the right type of oscillation is present in the fault zone area, an earthquake may be triggered.

Two important questions would be:

1. What type of oscillations are triggering earthquakes at specific locations?

2. What forces are controlling the oscillations at those locations?

COMMENTS:

If that theory is accurate then I believe that some of my data already indicate what those controlling forces could be for fault zones in certain locations.

That sun and moon gravity based theory does not propose that other phenomena such as geomagnetic storms and atmospheric storm related air drag on continents are not also triggering earthquakes.

A copy of this theory has been temporarily stored at the following Web site:

http://home.netcom.com/~edgrsprj/111.html#Triggering-Theory