Energetic particle dropouts were observed in the local morning sector with the particle spectrometer S321 onboard the European geostationary satellite GEOS-2. The dropouts usually last 10 to 30 minutes. They differ from those commonly observed in the midnight sector during growth phases of substorms and also from magnetopause crossings. They occur during the recovery phase and are well inside the magnetosphere. During the dropouts the total magnetic field increases. Ground magnetic recordings and AE indices show that the dropouts are related to the substorm recovery phase during multiple substorm events. Ground magnetic recordings also reveal that in the majority of the cases a new substorm activation is seen in the midnight sector simultaneously with the recovery phase signatures in the morning sector. The dropouts are most likely associated with locally thinning of the morning side plasma sheet. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995