Experimentsonsonictransmissionshowthataslabstonecandirectlytransmitpartoftheenergyofawaveexcitedbyknockingorbyatransducerintotheair.Theotherpartofthewaveenergycangeneratethenormalmodeofvibrationontheslabstoneandexcitemeasurableacousticsignalsintheair.Thedominantfrequencyisrelatedtothesizeoftheslabstone.Theseresultsindicatethattheacousticemission(AE)inrockalsodisplayssimilarbehaviorifthesourceisshallow.Itisdemonstratedthatwiththenucleationandpropagationofcracks,thedominantfrequencyoftheradiatedwavewillbelower.Whenthefrequencybecomesverylow,thewavecanbetransmittedthroughtherockintotheairandbereceivedbyamicrophone.Accordingtothetheoryofsimilarityofsize,therewillbelow-frequencywavesbeforestrongearthquakesbecauseofnucleationofcracks,whichcanbereceivedbyspeciallow-frequencytransducersorinfrasonicdetectors.Beforeearthquakes,themechanismofprecursorscouldbeverycomplicated.Theymightbeproducedbyplasticcreeporattributedtoliquidsbutnotbrittlefractureinmostcases.Sotheperiodsoftheproducedwaveswillbelonger.Thisperhapsaccountsforthelackofforeshocksbeforemanystrongearthquakes.
