# US 9,519,070 B2 · Earthquake precursor observation device and method

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 9,519,070 B2
- Document ID: US9519070B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/871,510
- Filed: 2013-04-26
- Published: 2014-02-06
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2012-05-09
- Applicants: Toshiaki Kikuchi
- Inventors: Toshiaki Kikuchi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9519070B2

## CPC

- G01V 1/01: Measuring or predicting earthquakes
- G01V 2210/65: Source localisation, e.g. faults, hypocenters or reservoirs
- G01V 2210/679: Reverse-time modeling or coalescence modelling, i.e. starting from receivers
- G01V: GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; TAGS (means for indicating the location of accidentally buried, e.g. snow-buried, persons A63B29/02)

## Abstract

A data acquisition module acquires seismic data actually measured at a plurality of observation points; a pulse calculation module acquires information of a propagation environment where seismic waves propagate from a hypocenter of earthquake to each observation point, and applies time reversal processing on the seismic waves received at the observation points by considering the propagation environment to acquire time reversal pulses at each observation point; a line calculation module calculates a parametric line in a length direction of a fault from a distribution of azimuths of frequency spectra of the time reversal pulses acquired by the pulse calculation module; a head searching module searches a parametric head by analyzing the seismic waves received in the vicinity of the parametric line calculated by the line calculation module; and a monitoring module monitors developments of a crack in the fault by observing the parametric head searched by the head searching module.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An earthquake precursor observing device for observing an earthquake precursor based on actually measured earthquake data, comprising:
a data acquisition module which acquires earthquake data actually measured at a plurality of observation points;
a pulse calculation module which acquires information of a propagation environment where seismic waves propagate from a hypocenter of an earthquake to each of the observation points, and applies time reversal processing on the seismic waves received at the plurality of observation points by considering the propagation environment to acquire time reversal pulses at each of the observation points;
a line calculation module which calculates a parametric line in a length direction of a fault from a distribution of azimuths of frequency spectra of the time reversal pulses acquired by the pulse calculation module;
a head searching module which searches a parametric head by analyzing the seismic waves received in the vicinity of the parametric line calculated by the line calculation module; and
a monitoring module which monitors developments of a crack in the fault by observing the parametric head searched by the head searching module.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The earthquake precursor observing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the head searching module analyzes a waveform of an earthquake for three velocity components in vertical and horizontal directions actually measured by a seismometer, the horizontal direction including two mutually orthogonal directions.

### Claim 3

An earthquake precursor observing method for observing an earthquake precursor based on actually measured earthquake data, the method comprising:
acquiring earthquake data actually measured at a plurality of observation points;
acquiring time reversal pulses at each of the observation points by applying time reversal processing on seismic waves received at the plurality of observation points;
acquiring information of a propagation environment where seismic waves propagate from a hypocenter of an earthquake to each of the observation points, and calculating a parametric line in a length direction of a fault from a distribution of azimuths of frequency spectra of the time reversal pulses acquired by considering the propagation environment;
searching a parametric head by analyzing the seismic waves received in the vicinity of the calculated parametric line; and
monitoring developments of a crack in the fault by observing the searched parametric head.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The earthquake precursor observing method as claimed in claim 3, comprising
searching the parametric head by analyzing a waveform of an earthquake for three velocity components in vertical and horizontal directions actually measured by a seismometer, the horizontal direction including two mutually orthogonal directions.