A cellular-automaton model of threshold elements with deterministic dynamics is introduced. The model is a cellular-automaton version of the mechanical earthquake model invented originally by Burridge and Knopoff [Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 57, 341 (1967)] and studied recently by Carlson and Langer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 2632 (1989); Phys. Rev. A 40, 6470 (1989)]. Randomness exists only in initial configurations. Numerical results show that the distribution function of the event magnitudes has a scaling region consistent with the Gutenberg-Richter law.

• Received 23 April 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.41.7086