  This entry in the Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science, Springer
present a summary of some of the concepts and calculational tools that have
been developed in attempts to apply statistical physics approaches to
seismology. We summarize the leading theoretical physical models of the
space-time organization of earthquakes. We present a general discussion and
several examples of the new metrics proposed by statistical physicists,
underlining their strengths and weaknesses. The entry concludes by briefly
outlining future directions. The presentation is organized as follows. I
Glossary II Definition and Importance of the Subject III Introduction IV
Concepts and Calculational Tools IV.1 Renormalization, Scaling and the Role of
Small Earthquakes in Models of Triggered Seismicity IV.2 Universality IV.3
Intermittent Periodicity and Chaos IV.4 Turbulence IV.5 Self-Organized
Criticality V Competing mechanisms and models V.1 Roots of complexity in
seismicity: dynamics or heterogeneity? V.2 Critical earthquakes V.3 Spinodal
decomposition V.4 Dynamics, stress interaction and thermal fluctuation effects
VI Empirical studies of seismicity inspired by statistical physics VI.1 Early
successes and latter subsequent challenges VI.2 Entropy method for the
distribution of time intervals between mainshocks VI.3 Scaling of the PDF of
Waiting Times VI.4 Scaling of the PDF of Distances Between Subsequent
Earthquakes VI.5 The Network Approach VII Future Directions
