SIMILITUDE FEASIBILITY OF SLIDER-BLOCK MODELS

Abstract

The two-block spring-mass model has been assumed to be a low order approximation for stick-slip behaviour of faults. Chaoticity of this model has been studied earlier. This paper proposes a spectral method of evaluating correlation dimensions of the joint marked point processes generated by the slider-block models (SBMs). These studies are used to show that the problem of calibrating the model is prone to non-uniqueness. The study also indicates that the larger the frequency range used for matching the model and the field earthquake sequences, the greater is the fractal dimension. This, in turn, means that larger data sets would have to be used if the results are not to be artificial. The field data from the Southern California region have also been processed to indicate that the fractal dimensions appropriate to that region fall in the range allowed by the slider-block model.