Anomalies of total column CO and O ₃ associated with great earthquakes in recent years

Variations of total column CO and O ₃ in the atmosphere over the epicenter areas of 35 great earthquakes that occurred throughout the world in recent years were studied based on the hyper-spectrum data from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). It was found that anomalous increases of CO and/or O ₃ concentrations occurred over the epicenter areas of 12 earthquakes among the 35 studied ones. However, increases in both CO and O ₃ concentrations were found for 6 earthquakes. The O ₃ anomalies appeared in the month when the earthquake occurred and lasted for a few months, whereas CO anomalies occurred irregularly. The duration of CO and O ₃ anomalies related to the earthquakes ranged from 1 to 6 months. The anomalies of CO concentration related to the earthquake can be mainly attributed to gas emission from the lithosphere and photochemical reaction, while the anomalous increases in O ₃ concentration can be mainly due to the transport of O ₃-enriched air and photochemical reaction. However, more work needs to be done in order to understand the mechanism of the CO and O ₃ anomalies further.