Power-Law Time Distribution of Large Earthquakes

Abstract

We study the statistical properties of time distribution of seimicity in California by means of a new method of analysis, the Diffusion Entropy. We find that the distribution of time intervals between a large earthquake (the main shock of a given seismic sequence) and the next one does not obey Poisson statistics, as assumed by the current models. We prove that this distribution is an inverse power law with an exponent $\mu =2.06\pm 0.01$. We propose the Long-Range model, reproducing the main properties of the diffusion entropy and describing the seismic triggering mechanisms induced by large earthquakes.

4 pages, 3 figures. Revised version accepted for publication. Typos corrected, more detailed discussion on the method used, refs added. Phys. Rev. Lett. (2003) in press

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