Spatial distribution of aftershocks and background seismicity in central California

We examine the spatial distribution of earthquake hypocenters in four central California areas: the aftershock zones of the (1) 1984 Morgan Hill (2) 1979 Coyote Lake, and (3) 1983 Coalinga earthquakes, as well as (4) the aseismically creeping area around Hollister. The basic tool we use to analyze these data are frequency distributions of interevent distances between earthquakes. These distributions are evaluated on the basis of their deviation from what would be expected if earthquakes occurred randomly in the study areas. We find that both background seismic activity and aftershocks in the study areas exhibit nonrandom spatial distribution. Two major spatial patterns, clustering at small distances and anomalies at larger distances, are observed depending on tectonic setting. While both patterns are seen in the strike-slip environments along the Calaveras fault (Morgan Hill, Coyote Lake, and Hollister), aftershocks of the Coalinga event (a thrust earthquake) seem to be characterized by clustering only. The spatial distribution of earthquakes in areas gradually decreasing in size does not seem to support the hypothesis of a self-similar distribution over the range of scales studied here, regardless of tectonic setting. Spatial distributions are independent of magnitude for the Coalinga aftershocks, but events in strike-slip environments show increasing clustering with increasing magnitude. Finally, earthquake spatial distributions vary in time showing different patterns before, during, and following the end of aftershock sequences.