Description of Research Area

Towards Microscopic Expressions for Statistical Parameters of Earthquake and Fracture

Research Subject

Earthquake is a fracture process in a huge scale, the dynamics of which is complex and diverse because of the geological heterogeneity. However, the statistics of the occurrence rate is represented by very simple and robust laws, such as Gutenberg-Richter law or Omori-Utsu law. One may expect a theoretical framework similar to statistical mechanics behind such a robust phenomenology. To address this problem, we attempt to derive such statistical laws from a dynamical model for fracture, bridging empirical laws and the microscopic dynamics. This leads to physical expressions for empirical parameters that characterize seismicity. In particular, we focus on two statistical parameters, which have been conjectured to depend on differential stress in seismogenic zones. The feasibility of the analytical expressions obtained from a mechanical model is to be checked in terms of the scaling properties and to be compared with the earthquake data.

Research Partner

KATSURAGI, Hiroaki

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
Nagoya University