It was my understanding that earthquakes from flares occur because of excitement of the molecules in the mantle from the charged particles hitting the earth and stirring things up a bit - Yes, it takes some time to have an effect - its not immediate. And this is also why you see an upswing in the geothermal areas. I still think its the X-Class flares that make an impact.

I did put together a chart last August from some data from this last solar maximum and didn't see any real direct correlation of large quakes with any flares. I had c and m and x class flare data for the years 1997 thru 2001. I charted it against earthquakes of 6.5 or better in the same period - It sure looked very random.

On the other hand, CME's can have a more immediate effect as they affect the magnetics. The type of energy is also important - it seems high proton storms will suppress earthquakes whereas a 'bottoming out' or very low electron flux over a period of a few days will result in a 7+ style quake.

I have no idea as to the 'why' of all this and it can become a complicated subject, but maybe once the physics classes are out of the way I could slip in a class on solar science and maybe get some clues. We should be nearing the next 11 year max solar cycle by the time I've done that!

I think the French were supposed to put up a satellite to determine a relationship between solar flares/CME's and earthquakes. Anyone know the status of that project?

Canie