Stresses and seismicity at the present stage of evolution of the Baikal rift zone lithosphere

The paper presents results of studying stresses and seismicity of the lithosphere in the Baikal rift zone at the present (instrumental) stage of its evolution. These results are well consistent with the theory of self-organization of complex dynamic systems and can be used for the classification of certain features and properties of the Baikal rift seismogenic system studied. Application of the theory of nonlinear dynamic systems to the analysis of stresses and seismicity allowed us to develop a concept of a complex spatiotemporal structure of the stress state of the lithosphere and seismicity in the region. In terms of this concept, the distribution of strong earthquakes in time is explained in terms of bifurcations (catastrophes) of stresses in the rift zone. Extrapolation of the results indicates that a stress catastrophe in lithosphere of the rift zone can take place in the next few years years, which increases the probability of occurrence of strong (M ≈ 7) earthquakes in the Baikal region. A model with bifurcation of triple equilibrium most consistent with the phase image of regional stresses is proposed as a scenario of the stress state evolution in the lithosphere of the Baikal rift zone.