LURR (LOAD-UNLOAD RESPONSE RATIO) AND ITS APPLICATION TO EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION IN IRAN

Seismogenic process is a nonlinear and irreversible one, so that the response to loading of a seismogenic zone is different from the unloading one. This difference reflects quantitatively the damage degree of the focal media and also the process of earthquake preparation. A physics-based new parameter-Load/Unload Response Ratio (LURR) was proposed to measure quantitatively the proximity to strong earthquake and then used to be an earthquake predictor. In the present paper, the basic idea of LURR and its relation to damage and then a tentative application to earthquake prediction in Iran has been given out.