Stochastic Dynamics for Earthquake Ruptures

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a stochastic dynamic model for earthquake rupture and suggest that the Langevin equation of frictions may be used for interpreting the slip distributions of rupture processes in earthquakes. The steady-state solution of the derived Langevin equation analytically attains the truncated exponential (TEX) distribution that is empirically characterized in many rupture models of earthquake events worldwide, as demonstrated by Thingbaijam and Mai (2016, https://doi.org/10.1785/0120150291). Our proposed stochastic dynamic faulting model for earthquake rupture intrinsically includes fluctuations and uncertainties in the heterogeneity of faulting planes as random variables. Specifically, we related the characteristic parameter u_c in TEX functions to the ratio of diffusion and friction coefficients D and \gamma of the Langevin equation.