Determining the time and space domains for estimating b value in seismic zoning

To take the seismic zone that includes the great shock with M _s≥8.2 as the statistical unit of estimating b value can often lead to more large variance, because the seismogenic zone of the great shock with M _s≥8.2 are larger than that delineated in general seismic zone. Two-level statistical units are considered in this paper. The seismic province is the first level unit that is suitable for group of earthquakes including the great shock of M _s≥8.5. A seismic province can be divided into several seismic zones. They can be taken as the second level unit for group of quakes in which the super magnitude of the greatest shock do not exceed 8. Because of the nonstationarity in time of seismic activity, the unbalancedness of data and differential of seismic temporal series feature in different areas need to be considered when we select the time period for estimating b value. According to local conditions, the time period is selected at one’s discretion in order to reflect seismicity level of this statistical unit in future 100 years. Contribution No. 98A02039, Institute of Geophysics, China Seismological Bureau, China.