Seismicity and self-organized criticality

In this paper, the concept of self-organized criticality is related to seis micity. Self-organized criticality evolved from numerical studies of three simple models: The sandpile model, the slider-block model, and the forest-f ire model. These models resemble each other and regional seismicity in thei r behavior. In this paper we present a simple multiplicative cascade model motivated by the forest-fire model that explains the behavior of self-organ ized critical models and the difference between criticality and self-organi zed criticality. This model also presents insights into the behavior of fau lts and their associated earthquakes. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All ri ghts reserved.