Fractal analysis of space-time variations in the epicentral field of earthquakes for several areas in the Baikal Rift Zone

Fractal analysis techniques were used to study space-time variations in the epicentral field of earthquakes for several areas in the Baikal Rift Zone (BRZ). In each area the epicentral field is found to be a system consisting of several subsystems in the shape of maxima of increased fractal dimension D _s , which occurred approximately at the same locations with constant or variable periodicity. We detected simultaneity and migration in the appearance of some maxima of D _s . Most local areas in the regions under study typically have an unformed type of epicentral field, to use A.V. Solonenko’s terminology, and this makes it difficult to predict the time of earthquake occurrence at a specified location using simple statistical methods. We used the variations in D _s in different regions to study the behavior of the present-day seismotectonic process in the BRZ as a whole.