TY  - JOUR
ID  - epos1451
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00024-003-2475-0
IS  - 4
A1  - Pisarenko, Vladilen
A1  - Sornette, Didier
N2  - We present a quantitative statistical test for the presence of a crossover c 0 in the
Gutenberg-Richter distribution of earthquake seismic moments, separating the usual power-law regime for
seismic moments less than c 0 from another faster decaying regime beyond c 0 . Our method is based on the
transformation of the ordered sample of seismic moments into a series with uniform distribution under
condition of no crossover. A simulation method allows us to estimate the statistical signi?cance of the null
hypothesis H0 of an absence of crossover (c0 ¼ in?nity). When H0 is rejected, we estimate the crossover c0
using two different competing models for the second regime beyond c0 and the simulation method. For the
catalog obtained by aggregating 14 subduction zones of the Circum-Paci?c Seismic Belt, our estimate of
the crossover point is log(c0 ) ¼ 28.14 ± 0.40 (c0 in dyne-cm), corresponding to a crossover magnitude
m W ¼ 8.1 ± 0.3. For separate subduction zones, the corresponding estimates are substantially more
uncertain, so that the null hypothesis of an identical crossover for all subduction zones cannot be rejected.
Such a large value of the crossover magnitude makes it di?cult to associate it directly with a seismogenic
thickness as proposed by many different authors. Our measure of c0 may substantiate the concept that the
localization of strong shear deformation could propagate signi?cantly in the lower crust and upper mantle,
thus increasing the e?ective size beyond which one should expect a change of regime.
VL  - 161
TI  - Statistical Detection and Characterization of a Deviation from the Gutenberg-Richter Distribution above Magnitude 8
AV  - none
EP  - 864
Y1  - 2004///
PB  - Springer Verlag
JF  - Pure and Applied Geophysics
KW  - Gutenberg-Richter law
KW  -  cross-over magnitude
SN  - 0033-4553
SP  - 839
ER  -