Abnormal phenomenon of a mud volcano in Wusu county before M_S6.0 and M_S6.6 earthquakes in Xinjiang

According to causes and activity characteristics of mud volcano， this paper briefly introduced corresponding phenomenon between eruption of mud volcano and earthquake occurrence. A real-time mud volcano monitoring system based on network video surveillance was developed in northern Tianshan region in August 2011. Three mud volcanos have been monitored by the system, and one of the three is the Aiqi valley mud volcano in Wusu region. At this mud volcano were found abnormal phenomena, such as liquid level ascending, falling and then back to normal, before the 1 November 2011 Nilka M_S6.0 earthquake and the 30 June 2012 Xinyuan M_S6.6 earthquake in Xinjiang. These two events occurred during the process of liquid level falling, which is different from the anomalies before the earthquake at Khorgos mud volcano. It illustrates that mud volcano activity is closely related to tectonic condition.