Quasiperiodic events in an earthquake model

TL;DR

This paper modifies the OFC earthquake model to incorporate continuous driving and random thresholds, revealing quasiperiodic behavior linked to dissipation and foreshock-aftershock sequences, aligning better with physical and laboratory observations.

Contribution

The study introduces a modified earthquake model with continuous force and random thresholds, demonstrating quasiperiodic behavior and its dependence on system dissipation.

Findings

Quasiperiodic avalanche behavior observed.

Periodicity linked to dissipation levels.

Foreshocks and aftershocks connected to periodicity.

Abstract

We introduce a modification of the OFC earthquake model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 1244 (1992)] in order to improve resemblance with the Burridge and Knopoff mechanical model and with possible laboratory experiments. A constant force continually drives the system, and thresholds are distributed randomly following a narrow distribution. We find quasiperiodic behavior in the avalanche time series with a period proportional to the degree of dissipation of the system. Periodicity is not as robust as criticality when the threshold force distribution widens; and foreshocks and aftershocks are connected to the observed periodicity.