Construct · 1 fields · 2 citations

b-value: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a single construct in seismology Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
b-value1 CONSTRUCTb-valueGUTENBERG-RICHTER · 1944

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Seismology

How steeply small quakes outnumber large ones

The b-value is the slope of the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude relation, which says the logarithm of the number of earthquakes above a given magnitude falls off linearly with magnitude. Gutenberg and Richter's 1944 Frequency of earthquakes in California established this relation, and its slope (the b-value, usually near one) captures the relative proportion of small to large events: a higher b-value means small quakes dominate more strongly. The referent is a population statistic of a seismic catalogue, estimated over a region and time window, and it is watched because changes in it may reflect changes in stress.[1][2]

Unit
The dimensionless slope of log-frequency versus magnitude
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Estimated from a magnitude catalogue above its completeness threshold, by maximum likelihood or least-squares fit of the frequency-magnitude distribution

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Nearby constructs

aftershock2 fields · 2 citationsinvariant · one construct, two systemsforeshock1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a single construct in seismologyfrequency4 fields · 7 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Gutenberg, B., & Richter, C. F. (1944). Frequency of earthquakes in California. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 34(4), 185–188. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0340040185
  2. Shearer, P. M. (2009). Introduction to seismology (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521882101

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