Earthquake hazard characterization by using entropy: application to northern Chilean earthquakes
<p>The mechanical description of the seismic cycle has an energetic analogy in terms of statistical physics and the second law of thermodynamics. In this context, an earthquake can be considered a phase transition, where continuous reorganization of stresses and forces reflects an evolution fr...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/1911/2023/nhess-23-1911-2023.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>The mechanical description of the seismic cycle has an energetic analogy in terms of statistical physics and the second law of
thermodynamics. In this context, an earthquake can be considered a phase
transition, where continuous reorganization of stresses and forces reflects
an evolution from equilibrium to non-equilibrium states, and we can use this
analogy to characterize the earthquake hazard of a region. In this study, we used 8 years (2007–2014) of high-quality Integrated Plate Boundary
Observatory Chile (IPOC) seismic data for <span class="inline-formula">></span> 100 000 earthquakes
in northern Chile to test the theory that Shannon entropy, <span class="inline-formula"><i>H</i></span>, is an indicator of the equilibrium state of a seismically active region. We confirmed increasing <span class="inline-formula"><i>H</i></span> reflects the irreversible transition of a system and is linked to the occurrence of large earthquakes. Using variation in <span class="inline-formula"><i>H</i></span>, we could detect major earthquakes and their foreshocks and aftershocks, including the 2007 <span class="inline-formula"><i>M</i><sub>w</sub></span> 7.8 Tocopilla earthquake, the 2014 <span class="inline-formula"><i>M</i><sub>w</sub></span> 8.1 Iquique earthquake,
and the 2010 and 2011 Calama earthquakes (<span class="inline-formula"><i>M</i><sub>w</sub></span> 6.6 and 6.8,
respectively). Moreover, we identified possible periodic seismic behaviour
between 80 and 160 km depth.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1561-8633 1684-9981 |