Radon variations in the Wellington region, New Zealand, and their relation to earthquakes

Temporal changes in the radon content of ground water and soil gas have been monitored in the Wellington region since early 1978 in order to examine their relation to earthquakes. New Zealand is a region of plate convergence and subduction with a moderate level of seismicity, both crustal and deep. The measurement technique is of the 'Track Edge' type and is simple and inexpensive to implement but is subject to several sources of error. The major feature of the data, in the form of monthly mean radon levels, is a large long term rise and fall in level lasting 2 1/2 to 3 years. Data from five sites are well correlated due to this feature but shorter term fluctuations are less well correlated. Effects of changes in the weather are small. The long term radon 'anomaly' cannot be convincingly related to any particular earthquake. Nor do earthquakes up to magnitude 5.2 within 100km show any clear effect on the radon level. Despite the lack of clear precursory effects due to specific earthquakes, there are some weak correlations between the radon level and the seismicity as a whole. These correlations, if physically real imply that post-event effects on radon are at least as important as precursory effects. However, it is not certain that the radon level is directly affected by earthquakes at all. It seems likely that the radon level reflects changes in regional strain rate that also monitor the seismicity. (auth). 14 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs