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Landslides, forest fires, and earthquakes: examples of self-organized critical behavior

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  • Turcotte, Donald L
  • Malamud, Bruce D

Abstract

Per Bak conceived self-organized criticality as an explanation for the behavior of the sandpile model. Subsequently, many cellular automata models were found to exhibit similar behavior. Two examples are the forest-fire and slider-block models. Each of these models can be associated with a serious natural hazard: the sandpile model with landslides, the forest-fire model with actual forest fires, and the slider-block model with earthquakes. We examine the noncumulative frequency–area statistics for each natural hazard, and show that each has a robust power-law (fractal) distribution. We propose an inverse-cascade model as a general explanation for the power-law frequency–area statistics of the three cellular-automata models and their ‘associated’ natural hazards.

Suggested Citation

  • Turcotte, Donald L & Malamud, Bruce D, 2004. "Landslides, forest fires, and earthquakes: examples of self-organized critical behavior," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 340(4), pages 580-589.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:340:y:2004:i:4:p:580-589
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.05.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bruce Malamud & Donald Turcotte, 1999. "Self-Organized Criticality Applied to Natural Hazards," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 20(2), pages 93-116, November.
    2. Turcotte, D.L. & Malamud, B.D. & Morein, G. & Newman, W.I., 1999. "An inverse-cascade model for self-organized critical behavior," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 268(3), pages 629-643.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Crandall, Dustin & Ahmadi, Goodarz & Ferer, Martin & Smith, Duane H., 2009. "Distribution and occurrence of localized-bursts in two-phase flow through porous media," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 388(5), pages 574-584.
    3. Arnaud Mignan, 2022. "Categorizing and Harmonizing Natural, Technological, and Socio-Economic Perils Following the Catastrophe Modeling Paradigm," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-32, October.
    4. Biton, Dionessa C. & Tarun, Anjali B. & Batac, Rene C., 2020. "Comparing spatio-temporal networks of intermittent avalanche events: Experiment, model, and empirical data," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    5. Ma, Tao & Holden, John G. & Serota, R.A., 2013. "Distribution of wealth in a network model of the economy," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(10), pages 2434-2441.
    6. Gianluca Martelloni & Franco Bagnoli, 2014. "Infiltration effects on a two-dimensional molecular dynamics model of landslides," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 73(1), pages 37-62, August.
    7. Baïle, Rachel & Muzy, Jean-François & Silvani, Xavier, 2021. "Multifractal point processes and the spatial distribution of wildfires in French Mediterranean regions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 568(C).
    8. de Benicio, Rosilda B. & Stošić, Tatijana & de Figueirêdo, P.H. & Stošić, Borko D., 2013. "Multifractal behavior of wild-land and forest fire time series in Brazil," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(24), pages 6367-6374.
    9. Gwizdalla, Tomasz M., 2008. "Gallagher index for sociophysical models," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(12), pages 2937-2951.
    10. Willis, Jay, 2008. "Simulation model of universal law of school size distribution applied to southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) in the Great Australian Bight," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 213(1), pages 33-44.

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