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Science 7 July 1995:
Vol. 269. no. 5220, pp. 60 - 61
DOI: 10.1126/science.269.5220.60
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Articles

Ground-Water Radon Anomaly Before the Kobe Earthquake in Japan

G. Igarashi 1, S. Saeki 1, N. Takahata 1, K. Sumikawa 2, S. Tasaka 3, Y. Sasaki 3, M. Takahashi 4, and Y. Sano 1

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Faculty of Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 724, Japan
2 Sumikawa Hydrological Institute, 4-14 Hiramatsu-cho, Nishinomiya 662, Japan
3 Faculty of Education, Gifu University, Gifu 501-11, Japan
4 Geological Survey of Japan, Tsukuba 305, Japan

Radon concentration in ground water increased for several months before the 1995 southern Hyogo Prefecture (Kobe) earthquake on 17 January 1995. From late October 1994, the beginning of the observation, to the end of December 1994, radon concentration increased about fourfold. On 8 January, 9 days before the earthquake, the radon concentration reached a peak of more than 10 times that at the beginning of the observation, before starting to decrease. These radon changes are likely to be precursory phenomena of the disastrous earthquake.

Submitted on March 21, 1995
Accepted on May 26, 1995


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