On the Statistics and possible triggering mechanism of earthquakes in Southern California

A statistical analysis is presented for the Southern California region, for 33 years beginning on January 1, 1934, and for all earthquakes with Richter magnitude [greater than or equal to] 3.0. A relatively general model for triggering shocks is described which admits any perturbation function which is stationary in time and has a power spectral density. The tides are considered as possible admissible perturbations, and it is shown that on the basis of the earthquake data and the model considered, they may be accepted as statistically possible triggering mechanisms for earthquakes in Southern California.