As evidenced dramatically and tragically in 2011 alone,earthquakes cause devastation and their consequences in terms of human suffering and economic disaster can last for years or even decades. The VAN method of earthquake prediction, based on the detection and measurement of low frequency electric signals called Seismic Electric Signals (SES), has been researched and evaluated over 30 years, and now constitutes the only earthquake prediction effort that has led to concrete successful results. This book recounts the history of the VAN method, detailing how it has developed and been tested under international scrutiny. Earthquake Prediction by Seismic Electric Signals • describes, step by step, the development of the VAN method since 1981; • explains both the theoretical model underpinning the research and the physical properties of SES; • analyzes the SES recordings and the prediction for each major earthquake in Greece over the last 25 years; • introduces a new time domain, natural time, which plays a key role in predicting impending catastrophic events.

The acronym VAN refers to Drs Varotsos, Alexopoulos and Nomicos, members of a group based in the University of Athens and led by Professor Varotsos (head of the Physics Department) which for over a decade has sought to use electric-field measurements between electrodes buried in the earth to predict earthquakes in Greece over periods of order one month or less. But is such “short-term” prediction achievable by the VAN approach (or by any other)? This book is an objective collection of the arguments for — and the counterarguments against — that approach, intended to help scientific readers arrive at their own answers to this important question, as well as to others (including that of VAN's “export” potential).

This work comprises the proceedings of a conference held last year in Rhodes, Greece, to assess developments during the last 20 years in the field of nonlinear dynamics in geosciences. The volume has its own authority as part of the Aegean Conferences cycle, but it also brings together the most up-to-date research from the atmospheric sciences, hydrology, geology, and other areas of geosciences, and discusses the advances made and the future directions of nonlinear dynamics.

This breakthrough new book may help save countless lives and avoid enormous losses. It presents a methodology for using gas migration to predict earthquakes and explosive gas buildup. Using rigorous scientific investigation and documented worldwide case histories, this remarkable book presents compelling evidence showing that changes in gas rates, composition, and migration accompany the tectronic events preceding earthquakes and their associated seismic events, such as volcanoes and tsunamis. Because these gas parameters are detectable and measurable, they provide an early warning of seismic activity.Gas Migration is the first book to accumulate, analyze and apply the interdisciplinary knowledge on gas migration and detail its connection to tectronic, seismic, and geologic phenomena. It combines geological, geochemical, geophysical, seismological, and petroleum engineering insights to demonstrate how gas migration and its associated phenomena can be used in earthquake and environmental geohazard identification and prediction. Topics include-·Tectonics and Earthquakes·Gas Migration at Plate Boundaries·Surface Soil-Gas Surveys·Faults and Petroleum Reservoirs·Earthquake Precursors·Whispering Gases·Paths and Mechanics of Gas Migration·Subsidence, Gas Migration, and Seismic Activity·And much moreWith this information, environmental specialists, civil engineers, petroleum geologists, seismologists, and urban planners now have a new and powerful conceptual basis and tool for understanding and perhaps even predicting gas explosions and earthquakes.

Complexity of Seismic Time Series: Measurement and Application applies the tools of nonlinear dynamics to seismic analysis, allowing for the revelation of new details in micro-seismicity, new perspectives in seismic noise, and new tools for prediction of seismic events. The book summarizes both advances and applications in the field, thus meeting the needs of both fundamental and practical seismology. Merging the needs of the classical field and the very modern terms of complexity science, this book covers theory and its application to advanced nonlinear time series tools to investigate Earth's vibrations, making it a valuable tool for seismologists, hazard managers and engineers. - Covers the topic of Earth's vibrations involving many different aspects of theoretical and observational seismology - Identifies applications of advanced nonlinear time series tools for the characterization of these Earth's signals - Merges the needs of geophysics with the applications of complexity theory - Describes different methodologies to analyze problems, not only in the context of geosciences, but also those associated with different complex systems across disciplines

This book deals with the theory and the applications of a new time domain, termed natural time domain, that has been forwarded by the authors almost a decade ago (P.A. Varotsos, N.V. Sarlis and E.S. Skordas, Practica of Athens Academy 76, 294-321, 2001; Physical Review E 66, 011902, 2002). In particular, it has been found that novel dynamical features hidden behind time series in complex systems can emerge upon analyzing them in this new time domain, which conforms to the desire to reduce uncertainty and extract signal information as much as possible. The analysis in natural time enables the study of the dynamical evolution of a complex system and identifies when the system enters a critical stage. Hence, natural time plays a key role in predicting impending catastrophic events in general. Relevant examples of data analysis in this new time domain have been published during the last decade in a large variety of fields, e.g., Earth Sciences, Biology and Physics. The book explains in detail a series of such examples including the identification of the sudden cardiac death risk in Cardiology, the recognition of electric signals that precede earthquakes, the determination of the time of an impending major mainshock in Seismology, and the analysis of the avalanches of the penetration of magnetic flux into thin films of type II superconductors in Condensed Matter Physics. In general, this book is concerned with the time-series analysis of signals emitted from complex systems by means of the new time domain and provides advanced students and research workers in diverse fields with a sound grounding in the fundamentals of current research work on detecting (long-range) correlations in complex time series. Furthermore, the modern techniques of Statistical Physics in time series analysis, for example Hurst analysis, the detrended fluctuation analysis, the wavelet transform etc., are presented along with their advantages when natural time domain is employed.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Security and Internet of Things, ICCISIoT 2020, held in Agartala, India, in December 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the conference was held online. The 23 full papers and 4 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 113 submissions. The papers are organised according to the following topics: computational intelligence, security, and internet of things.

This monograph contains the advances achieved based on the content of our previous monograph published in 2011. In other words, the present monograph can be considered as "Part II" containing new results accomplished in the last decade. These were published in several reputed international journals based on the concept of natural time discussed in detail in our earlier monograph. The analysis in natural time enables the study of the dynamical evolution of a complex system and identifieswhen the system enters a critical stage. A wide range of applications are discussed, such as the cases of environmental extreme events-disasters and sudden cardiac death. More light is shed on changes of natural time features before major earthquakes like the 2011 M9 Tohoku earthquake in Japan and the 2017 M8.2 Chiapas earthquake in Mexico. Hence, natural time analysis plays a key role in predicting impending catastrophic events in general with a primary audienceResearchers and Academics in Physics, Earth Sciences, and Medicine.

A group of distinguished scientists contributes to the foundations of a new discipline in Earth sciences: earthquake thermodynamics and thermodynamics of formation of the Earth's interior structures. The predictive powers of thermodynamics are so great that those aspiring to model earthquake and the Earth's interior will certainly wish to be able to use the theory. Thermodynamics is our only method of understanding and predicting the behavior of many environmental, atmospheric, and geological processes. The need for Earth scientists to develop a functional knowledge of thermodynamic concepts and methodology is therefore urgent. Sources of an entropy increase the dissipative and self-organizing systems driving the evolution and dynamics of the Universe and Earth through irreversible processes. The non-linear interactions lead to the formation of fractal structures. From the structural phase transformations the important interior boundaries emerge.Non-linear interactions between the defects in solids lead the authors to develop the physics of continua with a dense distribution of defects. Disclinations and dislocations interact during a slow evolution as well as during rapid dynamic events, like earthquakes. Splitting the dynamic processes into the 2D fault done and 3D surrounding space brings a new tool for describing the slip nucleation and propagation along the earthquake faults. Seismic efficiency, rupture velocity, and complexity of seismic source zone are considered from different points of view, fracture band earthquake model is developed on the basis of thermodynamics of line defects, like dislocations. Earthquake thermodynamics offers us a microscopic model of earthquake sources.Physics of defects helps the authors decscribe and explain a number of precursory phenomena caused by the buildup of stresses. Anomalies in electric polarization and electromagnetic radiation prior to earthquakes are considered from this point of view. Through the thermodynamic approach, the authors arrive at the fascinating question of posssibility of earthquake prediction. In general, the Earth is considered here as a multicomponent system. Transport phenomena as well as wave propagation and shock waves are considered in this system subjected also to chemical and phase transformations.

The concept of earthquake prognostics, originally initiated in the 80s by a Berlin-based group of scientists and experts, has been further developed at international seminars. The 6th international seminar held in 1991 at the Japanese-German Center in Berlin has considerably contributed towards concretization and materialization of the earthquake prognostics strategy. Topics: General aspects: Earthquake prognostics - From fundamental research to practical measures of protection; A few comments on earthquake disaster precention; Earthquake sources processes; Earthquake hazard assessment; Risk analysis and evaluation; Measures of protection.