Preseismic hydrogen gas anomalies caused by stress-corrosion process preceding earthquakes

Simultaneous monitoring of He, H2, Ar, N2, CH4 and Rn in gas bubbles of groundwater from the 1,500 m deep Nagashima well in the active Yoro fault zone, central Japan, reveals that three microearthquakes with M=1.6–2.6 in the fault zone are accompanied and preceded by increases of H2, as is a moderately large event with M=5.4 in the same fault zone. All the focal distances of the earthquakes are within 25 km. No comparable anomalies were seen in the gas species other than H2. We suggest that the selective and preseimic increases of H2 in groundwater gas bubbles are geochemical signals of the earthquake nucleation process of stress‐corrosion mechanism. Aseismic slips preceding earthquakes in the active fault zone are likely to have enhanced H2 production by mechanochemical reaction of fractured rock surface with water in pre‐existing fault planes as groundwater conduits.