Speaker
Description
The organization in time, space and energy of earthquakes exhibits scaling laws with exponents
which are universal, i.e. they are independent of time and of the geographic region.
A possible explanation of this critical-like behavior is provided by the possibility to describe the evolution of a seismic fault
under friction within the general context of the depinning transition. In fact, minimal models for the seismic fault, such as the Burridge-Knopoff model, can be mapped to classical quenched Edwards-Wilkinson (qEW) interfaces. Nevertheless the exponents of the scaling laws
of the qEW interfaces are different from those exhibited by instrumental earthquakes.
In this talk I will present a more realistic description of the seismic fault which can be viewed as a qEW interface evolving over
a viscous-ductile substrate. I will show that this description produces scaling laws with exponents
depends on the specific law implemented for the viscosity. The value