An analysis of earthquake frequency data

Abstract

abstract Analyses of tidal forces present during occurrence of the major earthquakes recorded in periods of several years duration are presented for two regions along the San Andreas fault in central California. Components of tidal force and their time rates of change are computed for each earthquake in the sample. The distributions of these force and jerk quantities for actual earthquakes are compared with corresponding distributions obtained for pseudo-earthquakes generated under the hypothesis of random occurrence. It is concluded that the evidence provided by these analyses does not support the hypothesis that tidal-force levels or rates of change have significant effects on earthquake occurrences in the regions considered.