2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/23441After a large earthquake, the likelihood of successive strong aftershocks needs to be estimated. Exploiting similarities with critical phenomena, we introduce a scaling law for the decay in time following a main shock of the expected number of aftershocks greater than a certain magnitude. Empirical results that support our scaling hypothesis are obtained from analyzing the record of earthquakes in California. The proposed form unifies the well-known Omori and Gutenberg-Richter laws of seismicity, together with other phenomenological observations. Our results substantially modify presently employed estimates and may lead to an improved assessment of seismic hazard after a large earthquake.}4 pages with 3 figures, submittedOther Condensed MatterGeophysicstext