Role of aging in a minimal model of earthquakes

Abstract

We introduce a simple model of earthquakes, inspired by the spring-block models, but describing contacts at a mesoscale. A single contact point synthesizes many rock contacts so that these "macrocontacts" can have an internal dynamics, described by a stochastic process, that leads to an evolution of their breaking thresholds. This aging process leads to the Gutenberg-Richter law, which relates the probability of occurrence of earthquakes to their magnitude. An analytical approach is used to determine the range of magnitudes in which this law applies. © 2013 American Physical Society.