Annular seismicity structures and the March 11, 2011, earthquake (Mw = 9.0) in Northeast Japan

The characteristics of seismicity prior to the series of eight very strong earthquakes (M _w = 7.0–9.0) in Northeast Japan are discussed. Ring seismicity structures that appeared prior to all eight events in two depth ranges of 0–33 and 34–70 km are identified. The epicenters of the main shocks were located near areas of crossing or touching of shallow and deep rings. It was shown that the sizes of shallow rings and threshold magnitudes corresponding to seismicity rings grow with the energy of the main shocks. It was noted that the prognosis with respect to the place and magnitude of the catastrophic earthquake on March 11, 2011, had been made before it based on the data obtained prior to July 1, 2009. Use of the new data obtained prior to March 10, 2011, enabled us to specify this prognosis significantly. We obtained correlation dependences of threshold magnitudes on the energy of the main shocks (with a high correlation coefficients). It was shown that the duration of the period for seismicity rings to emerge in the considered region nearly did not depend on magnitude. The nature of annular structures and the possibility of application of their parameters for prognosis of strong earthquakes were discussed.