In seismology an earthquake source is described in terms of a fault with a particular rupture size. The faulting process of large earthquakes has been investigated in the last two decades through analyses of long-period seismo grams produced by advanced digital seismometry. By long-period far-field approximation, the earthquake source has been represented by physical parameters such as s~ismic moment, fault dimension and earthquake mag nitude. Meanwhile, destruction often results from strong ground motion due to large earthquakes at short distances. Since periods of strong ground motion are far shorter than those of seismic waves at teleseismic distances, the theory of long-period source process of earthquakes cannot be applied directly to strong ground motion at short distances. The excitation and propagation of high-frequency seismic waves are of special interest in recent earthquake seismology. In particular, the descrip tion and simulation of strong ground motion are very important not only for problems directly relevant to earthquake engineering, but also to the frac ture mechanics of earthquake faulting. Understanding of earthquake sources has been developed by investigating the complexity of faulting processes for the case of large earthquakes. Laboratory results on rock failures have also advanced the understanding of faulting mechanisms. Various attempts have been made to simulate, theoretically and empirically, the propagation of short-period seismic waves in the heterogeneous real earth.

Klappentext

This book extends our understanding of the faulting process of natural earthquakes as a complex system. The complex faulting process is generally described by considering a deterministic source (coherent rupture) and a stochastic source (incoherent ruptures). Long-period and short-period approximations provide the scaling law of deterministic and stochastic source parameters of natural earthquakes in a general manner. New concepts of stochastic scaling and non-linear scaling law are introduced to represent such complex phenomena of earthquake activities at local, regional and global levels. There are found three modes of complex systems derived from stochastic scaling, which characterize the minimum total power (energy) of the system. These systems predict corresponding power spectra of l/f, Kolmogorov and Lorentz types. Since the stochastic scaling is general, the theory can also be applied to the physics of complex systems in nature. Audience: Graduate and undergraduate students in geophysics and geology, and seismologists, civil engineers, geophysicists and geologists.

Inhalt

1. Classical Description of Earthquake Sources.- 2. Earthquake Source Spectrum of Complex Faulting Process.- 3. Acceleration Spectrum of Complex Faulting Process.- 4. Seismic Energy of Complex Faulting Process.- 5. Earthquake Magnitude and Complex Faulting Process.- 6. General Description of Complex Faulting Process.- 7. Stochastic Rupture Process of Fault Patches.- 8. Stochastic Modeling of Complex Earthquake Activity.- 9. Non-linear Scaling Law of Earthquake Activity.- Appendix A.- Appendix B.- Appendix C.- Appendix D.- Appendix E.- Appendix F.- Appendix G.- References.- List of Symbols.