Slip complexity in a crustal-plane model of an earthquake
fault
Myers CR, Shaw BE, Langer JS
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
77: (5) 972-975 JUL 29 1996
Abstract:
We study numerically the behavior of a two-dimensional
elastic plate (a crustal plane) that terminates along one of its edges
at a fault boundary. Slip-weakening friction at the boundary, inertial
dynamics in the bulk, and uniform slow loading via elastic coupling to
a substrate combine to produce a complex, deterministically chaotic sequence
of slipping events. We observe a power-law distribution of small events
and an excess of large events. For the small events, the moments scale
with rupture length in a manner that is consistent with seismological observations.
For the large events, rupture occurs in the form of narrow propagating
pulses.