A FRACTAL MODEL FOR SEISMICITY AT IZU-TOKAI REGION, CENTRAL JAPAN

Abstract

Fractal approach has been applied to investigate regional seismicity at the Izu peninsula—Tokai area, Central Japan. The frequency-magnitude distribution of earthquakes, distribution of epicenters, origin times of earthquakes, the fracture fault system in the region have been considered, and the fractal dimensions corresponding to them were calculated. A good correspondence in the fractal dimension values was found. The frequency-magnitude distribution in the area shows a fractal dimension of 1.28, whilst D=1.15±0.18 is representative of the geometry of the distribution of earthquake epicenters. The fractal dimension of faults for the Izu peninsula is found to be 1.16±0.04, and in the whole Izu-Tokai region, values 1.1<D<1.3 are characteristic. The temporal distribution of earthquakes yields a fractal dimension of 0.51±0.03, which indicates a relatively weak clustering of events in time. Independent autocorrelation analysis also shows that the earthquakes in the area of study occur to a large extent statistically independent. The general conclusion is that crustal deformation in the Izu-Tokai region occurs on a scale-invariant matrix faults. The behavior of the system is controlled by a single parameter, the fractal of dimension.