Rheology of the Tectonosphere as Inferred from Seismic Aftershock Sequences

Abstract

Some rheological models of the mechanism of aftershock
occurrence, namely, Benioff's, Pshennikov's, and Mogi's models, are examined
in the light of the established laws governing the phenomenology of the
process. It is concluded that none of them explains fully the aftershock
mechanism. Thus, a new creep model is proposed, according to which
aftershocks are the discontinuous manifestation of the overall plastic creep
by which the rock readjusts itself to the stress distribution left by the main
shock. The creep model affords a new large-scale picture of the rheology
of the tectonosphere.