Assessment of the seismicity level of the Baikal and Transbaikal regions in 2020-2022

The article is devoted to the assessment of the seismicity level of the Baikal and Transbaikal regions. Since seismicity in the region is heterogeneous, we assessed the seismicity level using the SESL’09 method for individual regions, using empirical distribution functions of the total released seismic energy. The use of such an approach is justified in cases of qualitative comparison of seismic regime parameters of different areas, when the same absolute value of seismic energy can be abnormally high for one area and abnormally low for another. For this purpose, the study area was divided into zones based on geomorphological and seismological data. For the selected areas and the study area as a whole, the total graphs of conditional elastic deformation release (according to Benioff), empirical distribution functions of seismic energy in a three-year time window, graphs of variations in released energy and the number of earthquakes were analyzed. As a result, the seismicity level in 2020-2022 was defined as background increased for the entire study area and the Khuvsgul-Tunkinsky and South Baikal regions, and background average for the remaining six regions. The magnitude (energy class) of earthquakes that can be called significant (strong) for each region was identified. The epicentral regions of the Baikal and Transbaikal regions were divided into three groups with high, medium and low seismic activity, depending on the seismicity parameters obtained in this work (Kmax, density, ranges of extremes of possible released energy and the average background level, the slope of the release graph of conditional elastic deformations).