Analysis of seismic magnitude-frequency distribution in northern and central Chile

A new model, recently presented by the corresponding author, was performed in order to obtain relevant information from the frequency-magnitude distribution of earthquakes observed in northern and central zones of Chile. The model, which can be seen as a generalized non-extensive distribution, was applied to 240 data sets (seismic magnitudes) recorded over 10 years throughout the Chilean territory, since January 01, 2011. The results allow us to know in both zones the behavior of the Gutenberg-Richter and non-extensivity parameters proposed by the model. Also, a specific parameter gives us some clues about the scaling between the released energy and the inter-plate fragments size considered in the non-extensive earthquake literature. The monthly relative variance, related to fluctuations which control the behavior of the energy distribution, shows a similar trend to the respective monthly seismic average magnitude, revealing a transition toward seismic stability after the 8.4 M w strong earthquake occurred on September 16, 2015, in Chile. After this event, fit parameters suggest that the northern zone releases more energy in contrast to the central zone. For comparison purposes, a well-known non-extensive model widely used today was applied as well.