Abstract:Since 2007, component borehole strain observations have been carried out in Qinghai province. Because the observation environment is characterized by low interference levels and the observation instrument is stable, the observation data is continuous and reliable. During the observation period, several earthquakes with magnitude>6 occurred in Qinghai and the region nearby. To study the earthquake reflection ability of the borehole strain observation data, in this study, we analyze the observation data recorded by six 4-component borehole strainmeters in Qinghai from two aspects:the presence of anomaly prior to earthquakes and the coseismic characteristics. Our results show that the amplitude of the coseismic response of the 4-component borehole strainmeter bears a relationship to the magnitude and epicentral distance. In individual earthquakes, we found the coseismic response amplitude of multiple instruments to be inversely proportional to the epicentral distance in most cases and proportional in a few cases. The amplitude of the coseismic response of a single instrument is proportional to the general magnitude, whereby the larger is the earthquake magnitude, the greater is the amplitude of the coseismic response. The coseismic response delay time of the 4-component borehole strainmeter is mostly proportional to the earthquake epicentral distance, whereby the greater is the epicentral distance, the longer is the coseismic response delay time. The coseismic response duration of an instrument is basically proportional to the magnitude, whereby the greater is the magnitude, the longer is the duration of the coseismic response.