Number 8 (Story #5), November 12, 1990 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein ARE EARTHQUAKES CHAOTIC? ARE FAULTS FRACTAL? Geophysicists have long recognized that earthquakes have some of the characteristics of fractals, phenomena that look and behave the same on many different scales. In particular, the frequency and magnitude of an earthquake are related by a power law over a very wide range of earthquake intensities. This behavior has now been closely reproduced by physicists, who have applied the concepts of nonlinear systems to old models of fault zones. These models simulate fault zones by chains of springs and blocks that stick and slip. (Physics Today, November 1990.)