Periodicity of earthquakes and the invariance of the gravitational constant

1961/11/01 by William Jason Morgan, J. O. Stoner, R. H. Dicke · 1 voice
Computer Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Earthquake Detection and Analysis #Seismology and Earthquake Studies #earthquake and tectonic studies

paper · doi:10.1029/jz066i011p03831

openalex publication_date 1961/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Times of occurrence for a total of 1933 earthquakes are analyzed for periodicities. The results show no definite evidence for effects due to earth tides. Small indications of a solar-date periodicity are assumed to be thermal in origin. A strong, statistically significant annual period is found, and the phase is substantially the same for northern and southern earthquakes. This periodicity is not wholly accounted for by temperature effects, wind-induced stresses, and observer bias. The occurrence of this periodicity would be understandable if the gravitational constant were to vary as the earth-sun distance changes or as the earth's velocity relative to a preferred coordinate frame changes; however, the observed periodicity cannot be interpreted as conclusive support for such a hypothesis.

Citations

• On the Origin of Inertia

Discussions

• Sciama's 1953 paper was not a fringe work and is still reasonably well-known - Google Scholar reports ~300 citations in the last ten years – but its importance was not as an experimentally testable th [stackexchange, 4 points]

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