2021 Alaska earthquake: entropy approach to its precursors and aftershock regimes

Abstract

We have conducted an entropy analysis in Alaska, a seismic-rich region in a subduction zone that exhibits a nontrivial behavior: the subduction arc alters the seismic activity from the eastern zone to the western zone, demonstrating a decrease in activity along the subduction. We analyze this zone through the Tsallis entropy and the mutability (or dynamic entropy) for the first time. Considering 13 870 seismic events after appropriate filtering, we analyzed a data set for the selected Alaska zone between 2000 and 2023. We have found agreement between the results for the two entropies. We have followed the value of the q parameter of the Tsallis entropy (Sq) finding values between 1.70 and 1.85, in concordance with values found in other seismic regions of the planet. The values of Sq decrease slightly over time but show a broad increase before the major earthquakes. Just opposite to Tsallis entropy, mutability shows a tendency to decrease prior to the major earthquakes. We used the simpler mutability method to further analyze this zone upon dividing the region into four subzones. The results show how mutability can identify the seismic activity in each zone. This study shows how an entropy approach can shed light on understanding the seismicity in subduction zones.