Power-law time distribution of large earthquakes.
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.
Mega
Mirko S
MS
Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Pisa, via Buonarroti 2, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
Allegrini
Paolo
P
Grigolini
Paolo
P
Latora
Vito
V
Palatella
Luigi
L
Rapisarda
Andrea
A
Vinciguerra
Sergio
S