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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Index Terms

  • Mathematical Geophysics: Persistence, memory, correlations, clustering
  • Nonlinear Geophysics: Complex systems
  • Nonlinear Geophysics: Scaling: spatial and temporal
  • Seismology: Earthquake dynamics
  • Seismology: Seismicity and tectonics

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L11304, 4 PP., 2006
doi:10.1029/2006GL026122

Earthquake recurrence as a record breaking process

Jörn Davidsen

Max-Planck-Institut für Physik Komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany

Peter Grassberger

John-von-Neumann Institute for Computing, Jülich, Germany

Maya Paczuski

Complexity Science Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Extending the central concept of recurrence times for a point process to recurrent events in space-time allows us to characterize seismicity as a record breaking process using only spatiotemporal relations among events. Linking record breaking events with edges between nodes in a graph generates a complex dynamical network isolated from any length, time or magnitude scales set by the observer. For Southern California, the network of recurrences reveals new statistical features of seismicity with robust scaling laws. The rupture length and its scaling with magnitude emerges as a generic measure for distance between recurrent events. Further, the relative separations for subsequent records in space (or time) form a hierarchy with unexpected scaling properties.

Received 23 February 2006; accepted 27 April 2006; published 6 June 2006.

Citation: Davidsen, J., P. Grassberger, and M. Paczuski (2006), Earthquake recurrence as a record breaking process, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L11304, doi:10.1029/2006GL026122.

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