'Universal' Distribution of Interearthquake Times Explained
- Mathematical Department, Nizhny Novgorod State University, Gagarin Prospekt 23, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950 (Russian Federation)
- D-MTEC, ETH Zurich, CH-8032 Zurich (Switzerland)
We propose a simple theory for the 'universal' scaling law previously reported for the distributions of waiting times between earthquakes. It is based on a largely used benchmark model of seismicity, which just assumes no difference in the physics of foreshocks, mainshocks, and aftershocks. Our theoretical calculations provide good fits to the data and show that universality is only approximate. We conclude that the distributions of interevent times do not reveal more information than what is already known from the Gutenberg-Richter and the Omori power laws. Our results reinforce the view that triggering earthquakes by other earthquakes is a key physical mechanism to understand seismicity.
- OSTI ID:
- 20860703
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 97; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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