Resumen

BENDITO, América; RIVERO, Pedro  y  LOBO QUINTERO, William. LOCATION OF PROBABLE ASPERITIES IN THE WESTERN REGION OF VENEZUELA, BY MINIMA OF LOCAL RECURRENCE TIME. IMME [online]. 2002, vol.40, n.3, pp.27-39. ISSN 0376-723X.

ABSTRACT     The space variability of local recurrence time T_L, is evaluated from local values of a and b of the frequency-magnitude distribution, on the hypothesis that anomalously low values of T_L help to consider zones with high concentration of stress (asperities) and that these are tied to minima in b-values. With a spaced rectangular grid to 0.01 degrees and the modern earthquake catalog covering the western region of Venezuela, from 1985 to 2000, the a-, b- and T_L-values are calculate at every node, with events within a radius of 20 km around each node. The results suggest the association of earthquakes of 1610 and 1812 with zones of low b-value, and the location of a probable asperities on a sector of the fault of Bocono, in the city of Mérida, that extends on the fault of western Piedemonte. These important segments, have still not produced a earthquake, but these still can happen. The methodology, at the moment developing, provides the most probable locations of earthquakes and it does not contain information on when they can take place and its reliability depends on its correlation in many areas and cases