Surface latent heat flux and nighttime LF anomalies prior to the M_w=8.3 Tokachi-Oki earthquake

Abstract. Surface Latent Heat Flux (SLHF) is an atmospheric parameter proportional to the evaporation from the Earth's surface. SLHF has been found to exhibit an anomalous behavior in the epicentral region prior to several coastal earthquakes. Sub-ionospheric low frequency (LF) radio sounding measurements have shown its potentiality for the short-term earthquake forecasting since the last decade. The anomalous SLHF and nighttime LF sub-ionospheric signals are found to show complementary nature associated with the large Tokachi-Oki earthquake of 25 September 2003. Such complementary nature of parameters may prove to be potential in providing early warning information about an impending earthquake.