Integer and fractional-order entropy analysis of earthquake data series

This paper studies the statistical distributions of worldwide earthquakes from year 1963 up to year 2012. A Cartesian grid, dividing Earth into geographic regions, is considered. Entropy and the Jensen-Shannon divergence are used to analyze and compare real-world data. Hierarchical clustering and multi-dimensional scaling techniques are adopted for data visualization. Entropy-based indices have the advantage of leading to a single parameter expressing the relationships between the seismic data. Classical and generalized (fractional) entropy and Jensen-Shannon divergence are tested. The generalized measures lead to a clear identification of patterns embedded in the data and contribute to better understand earthquake distributions.