Ionospheric signatures of the M7.0 earthquake in Dodecanese Islands

On 30 October 2020 at 11:51 UT an M7.0 earthquake occurs in Dodecanese sea (Lat. 37.84, Lon.26.81, Depth 10). Such earthquake generated a tsunami impacting Turkish coasts with an observed run-up of more than 1 meter. Physically, a displacement induced by tsunamis at the sea surface is transmitted into the atmosphere, where it produces internal gravity waves penetrating upward. This paper presents the firsts observations of the ionospheric impact of the earthquake and related tsunami as measured on ionosonde data and Total Electron Content from GNSS receivers in the Mediterranean region.

TEC from European GNSS network is used to describe the propagation of Medium Scale Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) possibly related to gravity waves induced by the earthquake and tsunami. Simultaneous vertical ionosonde recordings from Athens Digisonde are used to study the interactions between the higher and lower atmosphere.