Scaling similarities of multiple fracturing of solid materials

P. G. Kapiris (1) , G. T. Balasis (2) , J. A. Kopanas (1) , G. N. Antonopoulos (1) , A. S. Peratzakis (1) , K. A. Eftaxias (1)

1 Solid State Section
2 GFZ - German Research Centre for Geosciences - Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam

It has recently reported that electromagnetic flashes of low-energy -rays emitted during multi-fracturing on a neutron star, and electromagnetic pulses emitted in the laboratory by a disordered material subjected to an increasing external load, share distinctive statistical properties with earthquakes, such as power-law energy distributions (Cheng et al., 1996; Kossobokov et al., 2000; Rabinovitch et al., 2001; Sornette and Helmstetter, 2002). The neutron starquakes may release strain energies up to erg, while, the fractures in laboratory samples release strain energies approximately a fraction of an erg. An earthquake fault region can build up strain energy up to approximately erg for the strongest earthquakes. Clear sequences of kilohertz-megahertz electromagnetic avalanches have been detected from a few days up to a few hours prior to recent destructive earthquakes in Greece. A question that arises effortlessly is if the pre-seismic electromagnetic fluctuations also share the same statistical properties. Our study justifies a positive answer. Our analysis also reveals "symptoms" of a transition to the main rupture common with earthquake sequences and acoustic emission pulses observed during laboratory experiments (Maes et al., 1998).

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Sciences de la Terre

P. G. Kapiris, G. T. Balasis, J. A. Kopanas, G. N. Antonopoulos, A. S. Peratzakis, et al.. Scaling similarities of multiple fracturing of solid materials. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 2004, 11 (1), pp.137-151. ⟨hal-00302306⟩