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A Minimalist Model of Characteristic Earthquakes

Miguel Vazquez-Prada·Alvaro Gonzalez·Javier B. Gomez·Amalio F. Pacheco
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Abstract

In a spirit akin to the sandpile model of self-organized criticality, we present a simple statistical model of the cellular-automaton type which produces an avalanche spectrum similar to the characteristic-earthquake behavior of some seismic faults. This model, that has no parameter, is amenable to an algebraic description as a Markov Chain. This possibility illuminates some important results, obtained by Monte Carlo simulations, such as the earthquake size-frequency relation and the recurrence time of the characteristic earthquake.

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Miguel Vazquez-Prada, Alvaro Gonzalez, Javier B. Gomez, Amalio F. Pacheco. 2001-12-17. A Minimalist Model of Characteristic Earthquakes. https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-9-513-2002

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