EFFECT OF THE SUN ON EARTH'S SEISMICITY

For the experimental study of the relationship between earthquakes and solar activity, we introduce the idea of the statistical sum Z of earthquake ensemble. A number of numerical parameters of seismicity (average planetary magnitude, entropy, fluctuations of magnitude) are expressed through Z. A severe restriction is, however, imposed on the magnitude during the formation of the ensemble. We propose an alternative method. It does not have this specific restriction, although it allows us to calculate only one numerical parameter, namely the global daily magnitude M-g. Over the 20-year period from 1980 to 1999, 7300 values of M-g have been calculated. The comparison between the M-g values and Wolf numbers W made it possible to determine the effect of the Sun on earthquakes at a statistically significant level.