The paper analyzed the relationship between an earthquake and a celestial tide-generating force. We selected the background that indicates the time for the research of the abnormal enhancement in identifying the atmospheric temperature rise caused by an earthquake based on the phase change cycle of tidal force. Then, with the use of atmospheric stratification, which is integrated with atmospheric temperature data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction, the air temperature evolution of several different levels in the vertical direction before and after the MS8.1 Kunlun Mountains earthquake was analyzed. Results show that the earthquake occurred when the tidal force value was near the maximum amplitude phase. Thus, the tidal force could trigger an earthquake near land surfaces and upper multi-layers. The warming areas are mainly concentrated near active faults, thereby exhibiting non-uniform heating procession. The temperature increased to a continuous evolution procession of warming before the earthquake and recession after the earthquake. It obeyed the rule of thermal rise procession of rock broken under stress loading. Thus, the increase in temperature was related to the activities of the regional fault. Meantime, the air temperature performed a warm procession, that is, the surface air is warmed by land, uplifted by heat flux, and cooled and dissipated in the sky. It is consistent with the dynamic diffusion principle of atmospheric air thermal warming by land in the vertical direction. The tectonic activity is the main cause of the abnormal change in temperature. Finally, the atmospheric warming process stepped with the tidal force (from low phase to high phase) change process. Therefore, the tide force not only delivered a mechanical basis and calculated the time to select the background in advance in research on air temperature warming during an earthquake but also showed that the atmosphere temperature change, according to the tidal force change cycle, could reflect the change in tectonic stress prior to an impending earthquake. Combining the analysis of the tidal force change and the analysis of atmospheric vertical temperature stratification distinguishes the increase in air temperature anomalies caused by the earthquake from that which is not caused by an earthquake.

earthquake remote sensing;temperature anomaly;vertical distribution;celestial tide-generating stress;tectonic fault