Universal and nonuniversal distant regional correlations in seismicity: Random-matrix approach

Distant regional cross correlations are analyzed for seismicity in Japan by making use of the theory of random matrices as the null hypothesis. The empirical correlation matrix is shown to strongly deviate from the random matrix of the Wishart type. Accordingly, nonuniversal (i.e., nonrandom) correlations are identified and are represented by the networks on the map of Japan. The effect of setting threshold for magnitude is also examined, and it is found that the threshodling alters the results only slightly.