The Application of M-Function Analysis to the Geographical Distribution of Earthquake Sequence

Seismicity is a complex phenomenon and its statistical investigation is mainly concerned with the developing of computational models of earthquake processes. However, a substantial number of studies have been performed on the distribution of earthquakes in space and time in order to better understand the earthquake generation process and improve its prediction. The objective of the present paper, is to explore the effectiveness of a variant of Ripley’s K-function, the M-function, as a new means of quantifying the clustering of earthquakes. In particular we test how the positions of epicentres are clustered in space with respect to their attributes values, i.e. the magnitude of the earthquakes. The strength of interaction between events is discussed and results for L’Aquila earthquake sequence are analysed.