I agree with you to a degree Roger.

I was thinking in terms of a worst case look at the situation using "days elapsed from main shock" as a way to exclude further (larger shocks) from being labelled "aftershocks".

What about a "return to baseline" followed by an above average shock within say 10 days of a main shock event ? Some would argue that this is still an aftershock though the "baseline did returned for a short spell" prior to the follow-on event .... IOW, how long of a baseline period by your definition insulates further events from being labelled aftershocks? 10 days ? 20 days ? ,etc. Just curious....

Yes...both sides of the dispute could be argued.... My intent here is to clarify my position with regards to your post. I also suspect that a theoretical position may further illuminate why the 35-40 day limit is reasonable (whenever it becomes available).

.02

P.S. (BTW what source language is the ring map program written in ...Basic plus ? or something?)