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Moment spectra in a simple model of an earthquake fault
Author(s) -
Shaw Bruce E.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/92gl02437
Subject(s) - spectral line , seismology , simple (philosophy) , moment (physics) , geology , fault (geology) , seismic moment , homogeneous , instability , statistical physics , physics , mechanics , classical mechanics , philosophy , epistemology , astronomy
The behavior of a simple one‐dimensional, homogeneous, deterministic model of an earthquake fault is examined on the timescale of the rupture process. The model generates a complex spatial and temporal distribution of events from a frictional instability. I measure the frequency spectra of the moment release rate for events of different sizes, and observe power laws for the spectra. A bend in the spectra of large events is also observed. The paper concludes with a discussion of how these results may be relevant to real earthquake faults.