Simulation study of earthquakes based on the two-dimensional Burridge-Knopoffmodel with long-range interactions

Spatiotemporal correlations of the two-dimensional (2D) spring-block (Burridge-Knopoff) models of earthquakes with the long-range interblock interactions are extensively studied by means of numerical computer simulations. The long-range interaction derived from an elastic theory, which takes account of the effect of the elastic body adjacent to the fault plane, falls off with distance r as 1/r(3). Comparison is made with the properties of the corresponding short-range models. studied earlier. Seismic spatiotemporal correlations of the long-range models generally tend to be weaker than those of the short-range models. The magnitude distribution exhibits a near-critical behavior, i.e., a power-law-like behavior. close to the Gutenberg-Richter law, for a wide parameter range with its B-value, B similar or equal to 0.55, insensitive to the model parameters, in sharp contrast to that of the 2D short-range model and those of the ID short-range and long-range models where such a near-critical behavior is realized only by fine tuning the model parameters. In contrast to the short-range case, the mean stress drop at a seismic event of the long-range model is nearly independent of its magnitude, consistent with the observation. Large events often accompany foreshocks together with a doughnutlike quiescence as their precursors, while they hardly accompany aftershocks with almost negligible seismic correlations observed after the main shock.