Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

A Model for the Occurrence of Large Earthquakes

Abstract

THIS communication outlines a probability model which seems to provide an adequate basis for making predictions concerning the occurrence of largest earthquake magnitudes over time: (a) The number of earthquakes in a year is a Poisson random variable with mean α; (b) X, the earthquake magnitude, is a random variable distributed with cumulative distribution function:

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gumbel, E. J., Statistics of Extremes (Columbia University Press, New York, 1958).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Richter, C. F., Elementary Seismology, 359 (W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, 1958).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Lomnitz, C., Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 54, 1271 (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Iscol, R., G2 BC REGRESS (University of California, Computer Center, Berkeley, August 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gutenberg, B., and Richter, C. F., Seismicity of the Earth and Associated Phenomena, 18 (Princeton Univ. Press, 1949).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

EPSTEIN, B., LOMNITZ, C. A Model for the Occurrence of Large Earthquakes. Nature 211, 954–956 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/211954b0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/211954b0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing