Abstract
In many important systems exhibiting crackling noise—an intermittent avalanchelike relaxation response with power-law and, thus, self-similar distributed event sizes—the “laws” for the rate of activity after large events are not consistent with the overall self-similar behavior expected on theoretical grounds. This is particularly true for the case of seismicity, and a satisfying solution to this paradox has remained outstanding. Here, we propose a generalized description of the aftershock rates which is both self-similar and consistent with all other known self-similar features. Comparing our theoretical predictions with high-resolution earthquake data from Southern California we find excellent agreement, providing particularly clear evidence for a unified description of aftershocks and foreshocks. This may offer an improved framework for time-dependent seismic hazard assessment and earthquake forecasting.
- Received 9 January 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.94.022314
©2016 American Physical Society