Abstract:
In the time domain, a deviation of the emission of seismic energy from that predicted by the independent trial process has been proved on various scales; this deviation is the result of interaction between earthquakes. On each scale the temporal connectedness of the seismic process is manifested as a nonrandom alternation of seismically active and passive intervals, and the 'depth' of this connectedness (in time) is defined by the characteristic length of the alternation period. The authors have shown that the characteristic time periods of seismic emissions ranging from a few minutes to tens of years fit into a single system or hierarchy whose properties do not change over the entire scale range. This suggests self-similarity of the seismic process over time. This article presents a possible explanation of this self-similarity.