Abnormal interruption of water flow from an artesian well prior to 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

:Water flow from an artesian well stopped on December 17, 2007 but recovered when the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake occurred on May 12, 2008. This well is located 90 km south of the epicenter in an extensional tectonic setting, where similar changes of water level and resistivity were observed at two other nearby sites. Our investigation suggests that this phenomenon was not caused by environmental disturbances, such as drought or borehole-drilling activity, but might be a precursor to the earthquake.