First-order rupture features of the 2011 MW 9.0 Tohoku (Japan) earthquake from surface waves

This study analyzed the rupture directivity of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake by using 100-s Rayleigh-wave travel-times, influenced by the finite source, to derive the fault parameters of the earthquake. The results demonstrated that the earthquake exhibited a slow rupture propagation with a rupture velocity of approximately 1.5–2.0 km/s and asymmetric bilateral faulting. The two rupture directions were N60°E and N127°E, with rupture lengths of approximately 276 km and 231 km, respectively. The rupture toward N60°E had a source duration of approximately 183 s, longer than that toward N127°E (approximately 156 s). Overall, the entire source duration of the earthquake faulting lasted approximately 183 s. Regarding historical seismicity in eastern Japan, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake not only ruptured a locked area in which large earthquakes have rarely occurred, but also ruptured the source regions of several historical earthquakes. With the exception of its slow rupture velocity and generation of a tsunami, the rupture features of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake were inconsistent with those of typical tsunami earthquakes.     

Japan's Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

The magnitude 9.0 Tohoku or Sendai Earthquake ( Fig. 1 ) struck just off the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan on 11 March 2011 making it the fourth largest earthquake to be recorded since 1900, and the largest Japanese earthquake since modern seismometers were developed 130 years ago. Despite the earthquake being much more powerful than had been expected from the subduction zone east of Honshu, the earthquake preparedness of Japan resulted in relatively little earthquake damage—despite the protracted shaking with ground accelerations up to three times that of gravity. However, it was the resulting 10–15 metre high tsunami waves that wreaked havoc along the coastal plain, resulting in a death toll in the tens of thousands and an on‐going drama at the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. Modern seismology has its origins in the analyses of the 1906 San Francisco and 1923 Great Kanto earthquakes. The 2011 Tohoku (or ‘northeast’) earthquake looks set to similarly significantly advance our understanding of earthquakes and tsunamis due to the unprecedented volume of seismic, GPS, tide gauge and video data available. There is much information to be gained on how large earthquakes rupture, how buildings behave under prolonged severe shaking and how tsunamis propagate.

Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Tohoku earthquake global displacement wavefield from IRIS. http://www.iris.edu/hq/files/iris_news/images/Sendai_RS.jpg     

Modeling of strong motion generation areas of the 2011 Tohoku,Japan earthquake using modified semi-empirical technique

Modification in the semi-empirical technique for the simulation of strong ground motion has been introduced to incorporate the strong motion generation areas (SMGA) in the modeled rupture plane. Strong motion generation areas identified within the rupture plane of the Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011 (M _w = 9.0), have been modeled using this modified technique. Two different source models having four and five SMGAs, respectively, are considered for modeling purpose. Strong motion records using modified semi-empirical technique have been simulated at two near-field stations located at epicentral distance of 137 and 140 km, respectively, using two different source models. Comparison of the observed and simulated acceleration waveforms is made in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) at both stations. Minimum root mean square error of the waveform comparison has been obtained at both the stations for source model having five SMGAs. Simulations from same rupture model have been made at other four stations lying at epicentral distance between 154 and 249 km. Comparison of observed and simulated records has been made in terms of RMSE in acceleration records, velocity records and response spectra at each six station. Simulations have been made at six other stations to obtain distribution of peak ground acceleration and peak ground velocity with hypocentral distance. Peak ground acceleration and velocity from simulated and observed records are compared at twelve stations surrounding the source of Tohoku earthquake. Comparison of waveforms and parameters extracted from observed and simulated strong motion records confirms the efficacy of the developed modified technique to model earthquake characterized by SMGAs.     

Seismotectonic Deformations Related to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake at Different Stages of the Seismic Cycle,Based on Satellite Geodetic Observations

Doklady Earth Sciences - The data of multiannual satellite geodetic observations before, during, and after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake are interpreted on the basis of the keyboard model of the...     

Temperature changes in the KUN-1 borehole, Kunashir Island, induced by the Tohoku Earthquake (March 11, 2011, M = 9.0)

The results of continuous (September 2010?CSeptember 2011) temperature monitoring in the 300-m-deep borehole on Kunashir Island are presented. There were several earthquakes, including the Tohoku one (March 3, 2012, M = 9.0), during the observation period, and they produced a significant coseismic response in the temperature field. The Tohoku earthquake was preceded by a constant decrease in temperature at the depth of 240 m with a mean rate of 0.02 K per month. The coseismic response was manifested in an abrupt (in à day) growth of temperature by 1.2 K. The relationships between the earthquake characteristics (magnitude, epicentral distance) and the amplitude of the coseismic temperature response in the borehole have been estimated. The deformation mechanism of the temperature response to earthquake preparation and implementation processes is suggested.     

Formation of Oscillations with an 11-Hour Period after the Tohoku Earthquake

Doklady Earth Sciences - Records of 68 identical broadband seismic stations of different world regions were studied after the catastrophic Tohoku earthquake on March 11, 2011. The oscillations with...     

Geodetic Analysis inside the South Korean Peninsula and Impact of the 2011 Tohoku–Oki (TO) Earthquake

The most powerful Tohoku–Oki (TO) earthquake that occurred in Japan on 11 March 2011 affected Japan as well as South Korea. In the current study, we investigated contemporary geodetic deformation inside South Korea before and after the TO earthquake using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements from 01 January 2008 to 31 December 2017. Measured velocities of GNSS sites are modeled by Auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) method to analyze the long-term GNSS time-series variation and to investigate the secular tectonic crustal deformation. We found that the maximum co-seismic displacements during the TO earthquake reached up to 36.82 ± 0.21 mm in the east and 5.90 ± 0.08 mm in the north directions. The geometric model of the co-seismic thrust surface was characterized by a rectangular plane with a dip of 12.0° and strike 200°. The thrust is situated at 25 km hypocenter depth, with an area roughly ~470 km long and ~120 km wide. The seismicity pattern after the earthquake indicated that the compressional strain started to be replaced by the extensional strain during the post TO earthquake period from 2011 to 2014. Further, the strain became predominantly extensional during the period 2015 to 2017, revealing an effective rotational change that occurred inside the Korean Peninsula.     

Atmospheric Pressure Variations Induced by the Tohoku Earthquake

Doklady Earth Sciences - The response of atmospheric pressure to the Tohoku earthquake on February 11, 2011 (magnitude M ~ 9), is analyzed using the results of instrumental observations made at the...     

March 11, 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan: Tectonic setting of source,macroseismic, seismological,and geodynamic manifestations

The results of interpretation of seismological, geological, geophysical, geodetic, and macroseismic data on the source zone of the catastrophic Tohoku earthquake with M = 8.8–9.0 (from different estimates), which occurred March 11, 2011 off the eastern coast of Honshu Island, are reported. Consideration of the seismotectonic features of the Western Pacific; the distribution of epicenters and hypocenters of the main shock, fore- and aftershocks; the solution of focal mechanisms of the strongest shocks; and the data on directions of lateral and vertical displacement of the island surface makes it possible to contour the source region, reconstruct the structure of the source in the subsurface, and estimate the deformation of the lithosphere resulted from this great seismic event.     

Seismic rupture during the 1960 Great Chile and the 2010 Maule earthquakes limited by a giant Pleistocene submarine slope failure

Determining factors that limit coseismic rupture is important to evaluate the hazard of powerful subduction zone earthquakes such as the 2011 Tohoku‐Oki event (Mw = 9.0). In 1960 (Mw = 9.5) and 2010 (Mw = 8.8), Chile was hit by such powerful earthquakes, the boundary of which was the site of a giant submarine slope failure with chaotic debris subducted to seismogenic zone depth. Here, a continuous décollement is absent, whereas away from the slope failure, a continuous décollement is seismically imaged. We infer that underthrusting of inhomogeneous slide deposits prevents the development of a décollement, and thus the formation of a thin continuous slip zone necessary for earthquake rupture propagation. Thus, coseismic rupture during the 1960 and 2010 earthquakes seems to be limited by underthrusted upper plate mass‐wasting deposits. More generally, our results suggest that upper plate dynamics and resulting surface processes can play a key role for determining rupture size of subduction zone earthquakes.     

Shock Waves as a Possible Mechanism of Generation of Abnormally High Accelerations during the М 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011

Doklady Earth Sciences - A mechanism of generation of abnormally high accelerations (>1g, with the maximum of ~3g), recorded during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (Mw = 9.0), is proposed. Based...     

Characteristics of earthquake-induced landslides in a heavy snowfall region—landslides triggered by the northern Nagano prefecture earthquake, March 12, 2011, Japan

The northern Nagano Prefecture earthquake, M_JMA?6.7 (Mw?6.2), which is inferred to have been triggered by the huge (Mw?9.0) March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake, occurred on March 12, 2011, in northern Nagano Prefecture, an area in Japan famous for heavy snowfall. A large number of landslides were triggered by the 12 March earthquake, and it caused building damage in the area of the epicenter. To clarify characteristics of the distribution and dynamic behavior of these landslides, we analyzed aerial photographs and conducted field surveys in and around the epicentral area. Large-scale landslides with long distance run-outs are a remarkable characteristic of the landslides induced by this earthquake. The long travel distance is considered to be related to the thick snowpack at the time the earthquake occurred. Moderate scale deep-seated landslides and shallow landslides were also observed in the study area. Based on an analysis of landslides with the active fault on which the earthquake is believed to have occurred, most of these landslides were distributed on the hanging wall of the active fault, within a distance of 12?km from the fault.     

Comparison of high-rate GPS,strong-motion records and their joint use for earthquake monitoring: a case study of the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku earthquake

We explore the use of high-rate GPS, strong-motion records and their joint use for earthquake monitoring, the data collected during 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku earthquake was studied. We compared the recorded co-seismic movement, analyzed the displacements in both time-frequency domain. Meanwhile, the comparison of P wave detection was shown and the dynamic velocity waves were discussed. The results suggest that the GPS-only solution is good for low-frequency signal, and the strong-motion-only solution is good for high-frequency signal, thus, the integration of two datasets best complement the advantages of each, more details of co-seismic motions and broader frequency band of seismic signals. This is crucial for earthquake monitoring and early warning.     

Effect of frequency-dependent radiation pattern in the strong motion simulation of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake,Japan, using modified semi-empirical method

We perform a strong ground motion simulation using a modified semi-empirical technique (Midorikawa in Tectonophysics 218:287–295, 1993), with frequency-dependent radiation pattern model. Joshi et al. (Nat Hazards 71:587–609, 2014) have modified the semi-empirical technique to incorporate the modeling of strong motion generation areas (SMGAs). A frequency-dependent radiation pattern model is applied to simulate high-frequency ground motion more precisely. Identified SMGAs (Kurahashi and Irikura in Earth Planets Space 63:571–576, 2011) of the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake (M _w  = 9.0) were modeled using this modified technique. We analyzed the effect of changing seismic moment values of SMGAs on the simulated acceleration time series. Final selection of the moment values of SMGAs is based on the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of waveform comparison. Records are simulated for both frequency-dependent and constant radiation pattern function. Simulated records for both cases are compared with observed records in terms of peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity and pseudo-acceleration response spectra at different stations. Comparison of simulated and observed records in terms of RMSE suggests that the method is capable of simulating record, which matches in a wide frequency range for this earthquake and bears realistic appearance in terms of shape and strong motion parameters. The results confirm the efficacy and suitability of rupture model defined by five SMGAs for the developed modified technique.     

The critical behaviour of a power law between preseismic electric signals and earthquakes of different mechanism in Greece and Japan

The consistency of the critical exponent in the power law relation between the stress drop of the earthquake and the lead time of the precursory seismic electric signal is checked using new data from the recent M _w 4.9 earthquake of strike-slip mechanism that occurred on 12 November 2013 in northern Evia island, Greece and the megathrust M _w 9.0 Tohoku earthquake on 11 March 2011, in Japan. For the first case, the derived exponent is in excellent agreement with previous ones obtained from all non thrust events analysed by the author and matches the value of critical exponent for fracture. On the other hand, the megathrust Tohoku earthquake follows the behaviour of all thrust events studied by the author, and thus, the calculated exponent significantly deviates from this critical value. The different behaviour between non thrust and thrust-type events could be attributed to the fact that thrust mechanism earthquakes usually occur in collision or subduction zones which are characterised by high accumulation of strain. However, a larger number of thrust events are required in order to obtain reliable results and shed light in the above experimental findings.     

Towards global space geodetic mapping of the dynamic deformation field after great earthquakes

GPS systems can be used as seismometers by sampling ground positions to detect travelling seismic waves. Data from dense geodetic networks near large earthquakes have been used to improve magnitude estimates, for tsunami warning, and to better understand the rupture processes. Here, we present 1 Hz GPS records of the March 11th, 2011, Mw = 9.0 Tohoku earthquake at unprecedented teleseismic distances. The spatial and temporal variations of the three‐dimensional GPS displacement vector field show various body waves, Love and Rayleigh surface waves along the direct path, and Love waves from the more than 31 000 km long major arc path. These results suggest that seismic wavefields can be mapped at teleseismic distances globally using space geodesy and could thus be used for source and structural studies. Data from numerous real‐time kinematic GPS networks could be combined to show the displacement field, giving unparalleled views of Earth's response to large earthquakes.     

The influence of isostatic equilibrium on the formation of the sources of tsunamigenic earthquakes

The hypothesis is proposed that tsunamigenic earthquakes in subduction zones, where the thrust geodynamic setting is dominant, are caused by the development of subvertical Riedel megashears (R’ megashears), which are not typical of shear settings. The gravity and GPS monitoring data for the 2011 Tohoku earthquake indicate isostasy, which was manifested in a tendency towards the smoothing of the relief contrasts between the island arc and deep trench. It is this isostatic factor that produces the sources of tsunamigenic earthquakes.     

Atypical soil hardening during the Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011 (Mw = 9.0)

Doklady Earth Sciences - Based on the records of KiK-net vertical arrays, models of soil behavior down to depths of ~100–200 m in the near-fault zones during the Tohoku earthquake are...     

Seismogenic Tectonics and Dynamics of the 2011 Ms5.9 Yingjiang Earthquake in Yunnan,China

In the southern South–North Seismic Zone, China, seismic activity in the Yingjiang area of western Yunnan increased from December 2010, and eventually a destructive earthquake of Ms5.9 occurred near Yingjiang town on 10 March 2011. The focal mechanism and hypocenter location of the mainshock suggest that the Dayingjiang Fault was the site of the mainshock rupture. However, most of foreshocks and all aftershocks recorded by a portable seismic array located close to the mainshock occurred along the N–S-striking Sudian Fault, indicating that this fault had an important influence on these shocks. Coulomb stress calculations show that three strong(magnitude ≥5.0) earthquakes that occurred in the study region in 2008 increased the coulomb stress along the plane parallel to the Dayingjiang Fault. This supports the Dayingjiang Fault, and not the Sudian Fault, as the seismogenic fault of the 2011 Ms5.9 Yingjiang earthquake. The strong earthquakes in 2008 also increased the Coulomb stress at depths of ≤5 km along the entire Sudian Fault, and by doing so increased the shallow seismic activity along the fault. This explains why the foreshocks and aftershocks of the 2011 Yingjiang earthquake were located mostly on the Sudian Fault where it cuts the shallow crust. The earthquakes at the intersection of the Sudian and Dayingjiang faults are distributed mainly along a belt that dips to the southeast at ~40°, suggesting that the Dayingjiang Fault in the mainshock area also dips to the southeast at ~40°.     

The 2006 (Мw 8.3) and 2007 (Мw 8.1) Simushir Earthquakes and the 2011 Tohoku Megaearthquake (Мw 9.0): Tectonic Stresses and Development of the Seismic Process

The peculiarities of catastrophic earthquakes that occurred in the Northwest Pacific region on January 13, 2007, and January 15, 2007, east of the Kuril Islands and the Tohoku megaearthquake of March 11, 2011, east of Japan are considered and analyzed. It is revealed that these earthquakes, apart from the fact that they occurred in the transition zone from the Pacific to island arcs and the Eurasian continent, have common features and similar characteristics. The seismotectonic slip in the source of the chronologically first event, the 2006 Kuril earthquake, was a gentle thrust, while that of the second event of January 13, 2007, was a downthrow beneath the Kuril deep trench.