How long did it take to recover after sichuan earthquake?

What exactly does "stable" mean here? In an area that's prone to earthquakes, generally immediately after an earthquake represents the "most stable" it ever gets. The instability will gradually increase until the next quake occurs.

Also, lots of places have small quakes all the time. The USGS has a website that shows recent quakes; in places like Southern California there will generally be several a day which are too small to feel but nevertheless large enough to be detected.


There really isn't a fixed time frame for aftershocks, if that's what you were asking about, though generally they die down to the normal background level within a day or two.