Magnitude of Completeness

In an earthquake catalog, the magnitude of completeness (Mc) is the minimum magnitude above which all earthquakes within a certain region are reliably recorded.[1] For example, if the Mc of a catalog for a specific region is 2.6 from 1980 to the present, this means that all earthquakes above a magnitude 2.6 have been recorded in the catalog from 1980 to the present time. It is important to note that when interpreting this data, a Mc too high may mean under-sampling, whereas a value too low could indicate an erroneous seismicity parameter.[2]

Another definition includes, 'the lowest magnitude at which 100% of the earthquakes in a space-time volume are detected.'[3]

References

  1. ↑ CORSSA – Glossary. (2010, August 12). Retrieved April 14, 2015, from http://www.corssa.org/glossary
  2. ↑ Mignan, A. and J. Woessner (2012), Estimating the magnitude of completeness for earthquake catalogs, Community Online Resource for Statistical Seismicity Analysis, doi: 10.5078/corssa-00180805. Available at http://www.corssa.org
  3. ↑ Mignan, A. and J. Woessner (2012), Estimating the magnitude of completeness for earthquake catalogs, Community Online Resource for Statistical Seismicity Analysis, doi: 10.5078/corssa-00180805. Available at http://www.corssa.org