  Using long-term computer simulations and mean-field like arguments, we
investigate the transient time and the properties of the stationary state of
the Olami-Feder-Christensen earthquake model as function of the coupling
parameter $\alpha$ and the system size $N$. The most important findings are
that the transient time diverges nonanalytically when $\alpha$ approaches zero,
and that the avalanche-size distribution will not approach a power law with
increasing system size.
