The VAN method is an experimental earthquake prediction method. It was named after the initials of the last name of each of its inventors, the team of Greek seismologists consisting of Panayotis Varotsos, Kessar Alexopoulos and Kostas Nomikos. Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a trembling or a shaking movement of the Earths surface. ... Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the movement of waves through the Earth. ... Panayotis Varotsos (Greek: Παναγιώτης Βαρώτσος) is a Greek seismologist, professor in the Department of Physics of the University of Athens, notable for his VAN method to predict earthquakes. ...
The method tries to assess electromagnetic emissions that, according to the VAN team, occur several hours before the earthquake and can be interpreted as warnings for a forthcoming catastrophe. Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field: a field, encompassing all of space, composed of the electric field and the magnetic field. ...
The efficiency of the VAN method in earthquake prediction is a matter of debate, as a number of prominent seismologists have disputed its accuracy. One of the major opposers of VAN is the Greek seismologist Vassilis Papazachos. The debate between Papazachos and the VAN team has repeatedly caused public attention in their home country Greece and has been extensively discussed in the Greek media. As Greece is highly seismogenic and has suffered major disasters by earthquakes, the Greek public is extremely concerned over this debate. Vassilis Papazachos (Greek: Βασίλης Παπαζάχος) is a Greek seismologist. ...
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Nature debates. Is the reliable prediction of individual earthquakes a realistic scientific goal?
By this method as described later, anomalous electric signal could actually be detected prior to the earthquakes which occurred near Tsukuba, north of Tokyo.
It should be noted that SES detected by the VANmethod have always appeared during the preseismic period.
It is evident that the VANmethod opens the door for the short-term earthquake prediction, although there is still a dispute on the statistical assessment on VAN'S prediction.
The method is based on detection of characteristic changes in the geoelectric potential, the so-called Seismic Electric Signals (SES) that appear prior to earthquakes.
The VANmethod is unique in that it has been successfully predicting earthquakes for more than a, decade.
The VAN group now claims that earthquakes in Greece with Ms(ATH) (magnitude announced by the Seismological Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, SI-NOA) greater than 5 can be predicted within the error of 100 km in epicentral location and 0.7 unit in magnitude.
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