Comment on ‘‘Possible association between anomalous geomagnetic variations and the Molise Earthquakes at Central Italy during 2002’’ by Takla et al. (2011)

Abstract

Takla et al. (2011) documented the observation of seismogenic precursory signals in the geomagnetic field components of L’Aquila station (LAQ) which occurred before the 2002 Molise earthquakes. Here, these claims are reviewed taking into account the geomagnetic index ΣKp time-series and by means of data coming from the Geomagnetic Observatory of L’Aquila where the LAQ station is located. This review shows that before the Molise earthquakes the anomalous behaviour of LAQ geomagnetic field components was actually caused by a possible thermal drift of the instrumentation. In conclusion there is no firm relation between the earthquakes occurrence and the observed magnetic anomalous signatures documented by Takla et al. (2011).