The 2011 Magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake: Mosaicking the Megathrust from Seconds to Centuries

Detailed geophysical measurements reveal features of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake. Geophysical observations from the 2011 moment magnitude (Mw) 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake allow exploration of a rare large event along a subduction megathrust. Models for this event indicate that the distribution of coseismic fault slip exceeded 50 meters in places. Sources of high-frequency seismic waves delineate the edges of the deepest portions of coseismic slip and do not simply correlate with the locations of peak slip. Relative to the Mw 8.8 2010 Maule, Chile earthquake, the Tohoku-Oki earthquake was deficient in high-frequency seismic radiation—a difference that we attribute to its relatively shallow depth. Estimates of total fault slip and surface secular strain accumulation on millennial time scales suggest the need to consider the potential for a future large earthquake just south of this event.

[1]  P. Goldstein,et al.  Deterministic frequency‐wavenumber methods and direct measurements of rupture propagation during earthquakes using a dense array: Theory and methods , 1991 .

[2]  K. Abe.  Tectonic implications of the large shioya-oki earthquakes of 1938 , 1977 .

[3]  J. Zumberge,et al.  Precise point positioning for the efficient and robust analysis of GPS data from large networks , 1997 .

[4]  Peter M. Shearer,et al.  Extent, duration and speed of the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake imaged by the Hi-Net array , 2005, Nature.

[5]  利久 亀井,et al.  California Institute of Technology , 1958, Nature.

[6]  Yuehua Zeng,et al.  A composite source model for computing realistic synthetic strong ground motions , 1994 .

[7]  H. Kanamori,et al.  Seismology: Energy radiation from the Sumatra earthquake , 2005, Nature.

[8]  H. Kanamori,et al.  Investigation of the earthquake sequence off Miyagi prefecture with historical seismograms , 2006 .

[9]  T. Kanazawa,et al.  Weak Interplate Coupling by Seamounts and Repeating M ~ 7 Earthquakes , 2008, Science.

[10]  Chen Ji,et al.  Source Description of the 1999 Hector Mine, California, Earthquake, Part II: Complexity of Slip History , 2002 .

[11]  Jan P. Weiss,et al.  Single receiver phase ambiguity resolution with GPS data , 2010 .

[12]  S. Sekine,et al.  Slow Earthquakes Coincident with Episodic Tremors and Slow Slip Events , 2007, Science.

[13]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[14]  R. Madariaga,et al.  The 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule Megathrust Earthquake of Central Chile, Monitored by GPS , 2011, Science.

[15]  Y. Tanioka,et al.  Sediment effect on tsunami generation of the 1896 Sanriku Tsunami Earthquake , 2001 .

[16]  Chihiro Hashimoto,et al.  Interplate seismogenic zones along the Kuril–Japan trench inferred from GPS data inversion , 2009 .

[17]  Robert Smalley,et al.  Love wave dispersion in central North America determined using absolute displacement seismograms from high‐rate GPS , 2009 .

[18]  Hiroo Kanamori,et al.  Observational constraints on the fracture energy of subduction zone earthquakes , 2004 .

[19]  H. Nakahara.  Chapter 15 Seismogram Envelope Inversion for High-Frequency Seismic Energy Radiation from Moderate-to-Large Earthquakes , 2008 .

[20]  Akira Hasegawa,et al.  Interplate coupling beneath NE Japan inferred from three-dimensional displacement field , 2006 .

[21]  Correlation Between Local Slip Rate and Local High-frequency Seismic Radiation in an Earthquake Fault , 2006 .

[22]  Liliana Borcea,et al.  Adaptive interferometric imaging in clutter and optimal illumination , 2006 .

[23]  L. M. Baker,et al.  Rupture propagation of the 2004 Parkfield, California, earthquake from observations at the UPSAR , 2006 .

[24]  John C. VanDecar,et al.  Determination of teleseismic relative phase arrival times using multi-channel cross-correlation and least squares , 1990 .

[25]  Susan Y. Schwartz,et al.  Noncharacteristic behavior and complex recurrence of large subduction zone earthquakes , 1999 .

[26]  《中华放射肿瘤学杂志》编辑部.  Medline , 2001, Current Biology.

[27]  F. Imamura,et al.  The 869 Jogan tsunami deposit and recurrence interval of large-scale tsunami on the Pacific coast of northeast Japan , 2001 .

[28]  Thomas H. Heaton,et al.  Estimation of strong ground motions from hypothetical earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone, Pacific Northwest , 1989 .

[29]  C. Darwin,et al.  Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Between the Years 1826 and 1836 , 2011 .

[30]  Walter H. F. Smith,et al.  Global Sea Floor Topography from Satellite Altimetry and Ship Depth Soundings , 1997 .

[31]  Yehuda Bock,et al.  Frictional Afterslip Following the 2005 Nias-Simeulue Earthquake, Sumatra , 2006, Science.

[32]  M. Simons,et al.  Post-seismic and interseismic fault creep; II, Transient creep and interseismic stress shadows on megathrusts , 2010 .

[33]  Yuichiro Tanioka,et al.  Fault parameters of the 1896 Sanriku Tsunami Earthquake estimated from Tsunami Numerical Modeling , 1996 .

[34]  総理府地震調査研究推進本部地震調査委員会,et al.  Seismic activity in Japan : regional perspectives on the characteristics of destructive earthquakes : excerpt , 1998 .

[35]  Anna H. Olsen,et al.  Statistical Features of Short-Period and Long-Period Near-Source Ground Motions , 2009 .

[36]  C. Bassin,et al.  The Current Limits of resolution for surface wave tomography in North America , 2000 .

[37]  Robert Blair Vocci.  Geology , 1882, Nature.

[38]  J. Avouac,et al.  Source model of the 2007 Mw 8.0 Pisco, Peru earthquake: Implications for seismogenic behavior of subduction megathrusts , 2010 .

[39]  R. O. Schmidt,et al.  Multiple emitter location and signal Parameter estimation , 1986 .

[40]  R. Rosenfeld.  Nature , 2009, Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

[41]  C. Ji,et al.  Slip history and dynamic implications of the 1999 Chi‐Chi, Taiwan, earthquake , 2003 .

[42]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Geologically current plate motions , 2010 .

[43]  J. Nocquet,et al.  Slip distribution of the February 27, 2010 Mw = 8.8 Maule Earthquake, central Chile, from static and high‐rate GPS, InSAR, and broadband teleseismic data , 2010 .

[44]  B. Meade,et al.  Geodetic imaging of plate motions, slip rates, and partitioning of deformation in Japan , 2010 .

[45]  Hiroo Kanamori,et al.  Shallow subduction zone earthquakes and their tsunamigenic potential , 2000 .

[46]  Narumi Takahashi,et al.  Seismic structure and seismogenesis off Sanriku region, northeastern Japan , 2004 .

[47]  J. Ashby.  References and Notes , 1999 .

[48]  Remo Guidieri.  Res , 1995, RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics.

[49]  M. Cloos.  Thrust-type subduction-zone earthquakes and seamount asperities: A physical model for seismic rupture , 1992 .