Dynamics of Earthquake Faults

Jean M. Carlson, James S. Langer, & Bruce E. Shaw

Published 1994, SCEC Contribution #171

The authors present an overview of ongoing studies of the rich dynamical behavior of the uniform, deterministic Burridge-Knopoff model of an earthquake fault, discussing the model's behavior in the context of current seismology. The topics considered include: (1) basic properties of the model, such as the distinction between small and large events and the magnitude vs frequency distribution; (2) dynamics of individual events, including dynamical selection of rupture propagation speeds; (3) generalizations of the model to more realistic, higher-dimensional models; and (4) studies of predictability, in which artificial catalogs generated by the model are used to test and determine the limitations of pattern recognition algorithms used in seismology.

Citation
Carlson, J. M., Langer, J. S., & Shaw, B. E. (1994). Dynamics of Earthquake Faults. Reviews of Modern Physics, 66(2), 657-670. doi: 10.1103/RevModPhys.66.657.