STATISTICS OF EARTHQUAKES IN SIMPLE-MODELS OF HETEROGENEOUS FAULTS

Simple models for ruptures along a heterogeneous earthquake fault zone are studied, focusing on the interplay between the roles of disorder and dynamical effects. A class of models are found to operate naturall y at a critical point whose properties yield power-law scaling of eart hquake statistics. Various dynamical effects can change the behavior t o a distribution of small events combined with characteristic system s ize events. The studies employ various analytic methods as well as sim ulations.