Abstract Based on the nearest-neighbor distance algorithm, we analyze the clustering characteristics of small earthquakes in Jiaodong peninsula area using the mixture probability density function. The results show that: 1) The phenomenon of earthquake clustering is very obvious in this area, and the clustering rate has increased significantly in recent years. 2) b value decreased and clustering rate increased in Jiaodong peninsula area before the Rushan earthquake swarm and the Laizhou earthquake. Therefore, the coexistence of low b value and high clustering rate is a good predictor of seismicity in this area.
