On the moments of Cox rate-and-state models

Rate-and-state models are widely used physical models for the relation between changes in pore pressure due to fluid injection or gas extraction and the induced seismic hazard in a field. We consider the modification where the pore pressure measurements are affected by noise and provide explicit expressions for the first and second moments of the state variable. We show that when the pressure increases, there is positive correlation. In the case of decreasing pressure, both positive and negative correlation is possible. Using the delta method, approximate first and second moments of the rate variable are derived and compared to empirical moments.