When an earthquake strikes, most of us imagine shaking buildings, cracked roads, and frightened people running for safety. But what many don’t know is that the impact of earthquakes doesn’t stop at the Earth’s surface.
Earthquakes Reach Far Beyond the Ground
Scientists in Japan have made a remarkable discovery—these ground-shaking events can also send powerful waves all the way up into space, causing problems for the satellites that orbit our planet.
This finding came after a strong earthquake hit Japan’s Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024. The quake had a magnitude of 7.5 and caused serious damage on the ground. However, scientists found that it also shook the air far above Earth, in a region called the ionosphere. This layer of the atmosphere, located between 60 and 1,000 kilometers above the surface, is filled with charged particles and plays a key role in helping satellite signals reach our phones and GPS devices.
To study what happened, researchers used more than 4,500 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers spread across Japan. These devices track signals from satellites and measure tiny delays caused by changes in the ionosphere. After the earthquake, scientists noticed strange delays in the signals. This told them that the quake had disturbed the ionosphere in unexpected ways.
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Visualizing the Invisible Ripples in Space
Using the signal data, the team created something never seen before: a 3D view of the ripples in the atmosphere caused by the earthquake. This is similar to how doctors use CT scans to look inside the human body. By combining data from different angles, they were able to build a complete picture of how the earthquake sent sound waves upward through the atmosphere.
These sound waves moved quickly—just 10 minutes after the quake, they had reached high into the sky. From above, they looked like ripples in a pond, spreading outward in circles. But there was something strange. The waves weren’t all going straight up. Some of them were tilted, especially in the areas south of the earthquake’s starting point. This confused scientists because older models had predicted that all the waves would go up in straight lines from a single spot.
To solve the mystery, the team looked at how the earthquake actually moved along a fault line. A fault line is where two parts of the Earth’s crust meet, and during an earthquake, the crust shifts along this line. Instead of one big jolt, the movement happens in sections, like a zipper being pulled open. In this case, the fault was about 150 kilometers long.
By updating their models to include different starting points along the fault line, the scientists saw a clearer picture. They discovered that sound waves were being generated at several spots along the fault, and they didn’t all start at the same time. Some waves began about 30 seconds after others, depending on which part of the fault moved first. This explained why the waves in the sky were tilted—the different sources and timings made the ripples bend and curve.
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Why This Matters for Satellites and Technology
These waves in the ionosphere are not just interesting to scientists—they can cause real problems. The ionosphere affects radio signals sent between satellites and Earth. When the ionosphere is disturbed, it can make GPS systems less accurate and interfere with satellite communication. This can be a big issue, especially in times of emergency when people rely on technology to stay safe and connected.
The team’s work helps explain how and why these disturbances happen. By understanding the path of the earthquake and how it pushes waves into the sky, scientists can better predict when and where problems might occur in our communication systems. The study also shows that these disruptions are more complex than we once believed. Instead of coming from one point, the disturbances form from many points along a moving fault.
This research has opened the door to a new way of looking at earthquakes. For the first time, scientists can actually “see” how an earthquake travels upward into space. It’s like watching invisible ripples move from deep underground all the way to where satellites orbit the Earth.
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Researchers now plan to apply the same 3D techniques to study other events that can disturb the ionosphere. These include volcanoes, tsunamis, and even powerful storms. All of these natural forces can change how the air above us behaves, which can in turn affect the satellites and technology we depend on every day.
For now, this study is a powerful reminder that Earth’s events don’t stay on Earth. From the ground to the sky, and even into space, the effects of an earthquake can be far greater than we ever imagined.
