to predict the onset of seismic events. Stationary MT monitoring systems have been installed in Japan since April 1996, providing a continuous recording of MT signals at the Wakuya Station (previously at the Mizusawa Geodetic Observatory) and the Esashi Station of the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan (GSIJ). These stations measure fluctuations in the Earth's electromagnetic field that correspond with seismic activity. The raw geophysical time-series data from these monitoring stations is freely available to the scientific community, enabling further study of the interaction between electromagnetic events and earthquake activity. Additional MT earthquake precursor monitoring stations in Japan are located in Kagoshima, in Sawauchi, and on Shikoku. Similar stations are also deployed in Taiwan on Penghu Island, as well as in the Fushan Reserve on the island of Taiwan proper. POLARIS is a Canadian research program investigating the structure and dynamics of the Earth's lithosphere and the prediction of earthquake ground motion. Theory and practice Energy sources Solar energy and lightning cause natural variations in the earth's magnetic field, inducing electric currents (known as telluric currents) under the Earth's surface.''' Different rocks, sediments and geological structures have a wide range of different electrical conductivities. Measuring electrical resistivity allows different materials and structures to be distinguished from one another and can improve knowledge of tectonic processes and geologic structures. The Earth's naturally varying electric and magnetic fields are measured over a wide range of magnetotelluric frequencies from 10,000 Hz to 0.0001 Hz (10,000 s). These fields are due to electric currents flowing in the Earth and the magnetic fields that induce these currents. The magnetic fields are produced mainly by the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere. In addition, worldwide thunderstorm activity causes magnetic fields at frequencies above 1 Hz. Combined, these natural phenomena create strong MT source signals over the entire frequency spectrum. The ratio of the electric field to magnetic field provides simple information about subsurface conductivity. Because the skin effect phenomenon affects the electromagnetic fields, the ratio at higher frequency ranges gives information on the shallow Earth, whereas deeper information is provided by the low-frequency range. The ratio is usually represented as both apparent resistivity as a function of frequency and phase as a function of frequency. A subsurface resistivity model is then created using this tensor. Depth and resolution MT measurements can investigate depths from about 300 m down to hundreds of kilometers, though investigations