Verifying the Gutenberg-Richter law at small magnitudes

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Discussion Overview

The discussion focuses on the verification of the Gutenberg-Richter law at small magnitudes of earthquakes, exploring the relationship between the number of earthquakes and their magnitudes. Participants examine potential reasons for deviations from expected trends, particularly at low magnitudes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes an apparent lack of earthquakes at low magnitudes in their data, questioning whether this is due to instrument sensitivity, a known phenomenon, or the effects of "declustering" at higher magnitudes.
  • Another participant suggests that small earthquakes are harder to detect, attributing this difficulty not to instrument sensitivity but to the signal being drowned in noise.
  • A different participant implies that the original poster may not have a complete data set, agreeing with the previous comment about detection challenges.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the reasons for the observed lack of low-magnitude earthquakes, indicating that multiple competing explanations remain without consensus.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include potential missing data, the influence of noise on detection capabilities, and the implications of declustering on observed earthquake frequencies.

Phyisab****
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So, I downloaded some earthquake data from the USGS database. I then plotted the log of the number of earthquakes with magnitude greater than or equal to M versus the magnitude M. This should produce a nice linear trend as predicted by the Gutenberg-Richter law. However, there is an apparent dearth of earthquakes at low magnitude.

Is this due to the sensitivity of instruments used to detect the earthquakes? Is this a well known occurrence? Is it affected by "declustering" of earthquakes at higher magnitudes?
 
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Anybody? Really?
 
Small earthquakes harder to detect, not really due to sensitivity of instruments, more to do with signal drowned in noise.
 
Seems like you don't have a full data set. I also agree with billiards.
 

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