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Volume 57 Supplement 5

Special Issue: Special Section for the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture Earthquake (1)

Resistivity imaging across the source region of the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake (M6.8), central Japan

Earth, Planets and Space volume 57, pages 441–446 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Across the source region of the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake, wideband magnetotelluric (MT) survey was performed just after the onset of the mainshock. Owing to the temporal stop of the DC powered railways around the area together with intense geomagnetic activity, we obtain MT records with excellent quality for both short and long period data, as long as 10,000 s. Two dimensional regional strike is evaluated with the aid of the Groom-Bailey tensor decomposition together with induction vector analysis. As a result, N15°W is determined for the strike. This strike is oblique to the local geological trend and also to the strike of the main shock source fault together with aftershock distribution of N35°E. Two dimensional resistivity structure is determined with the aid of an ABIC inversion code, where static shift is considered and estimated. Characteristics of the structure are as follows. (1) About 10 km thick sedimentary layer exists on the top. (2) A conductive body exists in the lower crust beneath the source region. The mainshock occurred at the boundary of the conductive sedimentary layer and a resistive basement beneath it and aftershocks occurred in the sedimentary layer. From geological studies, it is reported that the sedimentary layer was formed in the extensional rift-structure from Miocene to Pleistocene and has been thickened by compressional tectonic regime in the late Quaternary. Interstitial fluids or clay minerals, which reduce the sedimentary layer resistivity, control the reactivation of the normal fault as the mainshock thrust fault and aftershock activity. The second conductive body probably indicates existence of fluids in the depths as well. Such a conductive layer in the lower crust was also revealed by previous MT experiments along the Niigata-Kobe Tectonic Zone and probably plays a main role in concentration of strain rate along the zone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan

    Makoto Uyeshima, Shigeru Koyama, Mamoru Saka & Masato Serizawa

  2. Volcanic Fluid Research Center, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

    Yasuo Ogawa

  3. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

    Yoshimori Honkura & Naoto Ujihara

  4. Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Japan

    Toru Mogi & Yusuke Yamaya

  5. Earthquake Research Center, Tokai University, Japan

    Makoto Harada

  6. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kobe University, Japan

    Satoru Yamaguchi

  7. Department of Civil Engineering, Tottori University, Japan

    Ichiro Shiozaki, Tatsuya Noguchi, Yoshihiro Kuwaba, Yoshikazu Tanaka, Yuji Mochido, Noriko Manabe & Masanori Nishihara

Authors
  1. Makoto Uyeshima
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  2. Yasuo Ogawa
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  3. Yoshimori Honkura
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  4. Shigeru Koyama
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  5. Naoto Ujihara
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  6. Toru Mogi
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  7. Yusuke Yamaya
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  8. Makoto Harada
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  9. Satoru Yamaguchi
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  10. Ichiro Shiozaki
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  11. Tatsuya Noguchi
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  12. Yoshihiro Kuwaba
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  13. Yoshikazu Tanaka
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  14. Yuji Mochido
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  15. Noriko Manabe
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  16. Masanori Nishihara
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  17. Mamoru Saka
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  18. Masato Serizawa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Makoto Uyeshima.

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Uyeshima, M., Ogawa, Y., Honkura, Y. et al. Resistivity imaging across the source region of the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake (M6.8), central Japan. Earth Planet Sp 57, 441–446 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351831

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351831

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