THE ROLE OF GEODESY MEASUREMENTS IN THE FORECAST OF EARTHQUAKES

Abstract

Earthquakes take one of the first place among other natural disasters for destructive results, the number
of victims, material damage and human environment. The sudden revelation of earthquakes increases their
destructive effects. The death of people is caused not only by the earthquake, but also by various secondary
natural phenomena activated by the earthquake (creeping, subsidence, volcanoes, avalanches, etc.). Secondary
man-made effects create great dangers (release of fires, explosions, radioactive and toxic materials). Very often,
the primary damage and loss during the earthquakes is associated with secondary events. Properly organized
precision geodetic work can greatly contribute to the complex solution of earthquake planning by providing
information about the tectonic deformations of large areas of land resources without planning. At present, such
information can be obtained both from the analysis of repeated measurements in the astronomical geodetic
network, and based on the high-precision level network available in the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as from
repeated measurement cycles in geodynamic polygons.