## 3 Results
### Multi-Parameter Ionospheric Anomalies
#### 3.1.3.1 foF2 and hmF2 Anomalies  
For the investigation of ionospheric height and density, the ionosonde NII35, located on the island of Cyprus (latitude: 35.03\({}^{\circ}\)N, longitude: 33.16\({}^{\circ}\)E), was selected based on the availability of data. It is located around 3000 km from the point, which has a comparable latitude (34.5442\({}^{\circ}\)N, 61.8891\({}^{\circ}\)E). The proximity in latitudes suggests that the ionospheric properties may be similar. Figure 11 shows the ionogram and the related predicted electron concentration profile, which provide visual representations of the data. For the 2015 earthquake, the foF2 shows a wave-like signature of detected disturbance and an increase to 9.363 MHz (from the previously observed frequency of 3.8 MHz on 25 October) almost 2 min before the earthquake, which occurred at 09:09 UTC. For the 2023 earthquakes, the foF2 decreased to 11.825 MHz from the 12.56 MHz observed on 6 October (1 day before the first earthquake), and for later days, the foF2 shows a decreasing trend for the NII35 station, along with the rippled oscillations observed on previous days. For this reason, 2D plots of foF2 and hmF2 were created separately determine the near-to-real values over the earthquake region (Figure S4).  
Figure 11 also shows an interesting quasi-periodic pattern inside the foF2 variation. As can be seen, the intensity of each pixel represents the signal strength in the form of electron density profiles, while the colors indicate the wave polarization, angle of arrival, and Doppler frequency. Traces in the ionogram image correspond to individual reflected signals (echoes) observed at each sounding frequency. The ionograms of NII35 for other anomalous days were also analyzed, and coinciding behaviors with TEC and plasma scintillations were found. Intriguingly, the Doppler ionosonde detected a substantial increase in the Doppler frequency three days before the earthquakes, which persisted until the main shock occurred. The ionogram from the NII35 ionospheric station in Cyprus showed a reduction in the key frequency foF2. The 2D critical frequency foF2 plots were also analyzed 10 days before the occurrence of the earthquake in both cases. The unusual changes in foF2 and hmF2 over Afghanistan around 34\({}^{\circ}\)N and 62\({}^{\circ}\)E are displayed in Figure S5. The critical frequency and height of the ionosphere were verified at the NII35 station and from the  
Figure 10: The mutual correlation of the day and nighttime \(\Delta\)Ne and \(\Delta\)Te anomalies of the Swarm A and C satellites, for 2015 and 2023 earthquake cases respectively, the red and cyan lines are the regression lines.  
ionogram simultaneously, which yielded the following result: for 2015, the 26 October earthquake graph shows a drop in both factors around 8 UTC (from 10.3 MHz to 9.8 MHz in foF2, with the ionospheric height also deviating prominently from the IRI quiet-time climatology, showing a drop in the F2 layer height and density).  
The observed abnormal effect in the change in foF2 was unique across the whole observable time frame preceding the Mw 7.5 and Mw 6.3 Afghanistan earthquakes, occurring in a calm geomagnetic state. This shows a possible ionospheric disturbance associated with earthquake preparation, as indicated by the decline in critical frequency fof2, reaching a minimum of 7 days before the 2015 earthquake's main shock and 9 days before the 2023 earthquake. Also, the anomalies from Tables 1 and 2 coincide on 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, and 26 October 2015 and on 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15 October 2023, excluding the geomagnetically disturbed days.