Fractal characterization of an earthquake sequence

Jeen-Hwa Wang, and Chung-Wein Lee,

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1995, vol. 221, issue 1, 152-158

Abstract: The generalized fractal dimensions for the distribution of interoccurrence time and the relation of cumulative frequency versus interoccurrence time of earthquakes are studied. The data set used is a complete one consisting of M ⩾ 6 earthquakes occurring in the north-south seismic belt of mainland China during the 1900–1990 period. The log-log plot of Cq(t) versus t, where Cq(t) is the generalized correlation integral and t is the interoccurrence time in years between two events, is constructed. Result shows that a linear portion for t < tc = 50.1 years can be delineated. However, the pattern of data points bends and becomes flat at t = tc. The value of Dq at positive q is estimated from the slope value of the regression line to fit the linear portion of the data points for t < tc. The obtained Dq−q relation monotonically decreases with increasing q. The log-log plot of N versus T, where N is the cumulative frequency and T is the interoccurrence time in days between two events, shows two different patterns separating at Tc = 316.2 days. For T > Tc, the data points follow a linear distribution with a slope value of about −1.65 ± 0.11; in other words, N relates to N in a power-law form of N ∼ T−1.65. While for T < Tc, the data points follow a line with a very small slope value. Consequently, it is concluded that the earthquake sequence shows multifractality.

Date: 1995
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:221:y:1995:i:1:p:152-158

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(95)00270-H

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