title: Power-law time distribution of large earthquakes.
abstract: We study the statistical properties of time distribution of seismicity 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+/-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.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Pisa, via Buonarroti 2, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Mirko S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mega
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allegrini
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grigolini
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Latora
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Palatella
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rapisarda
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vinciguerra