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Spatiotemporal distribution of very-low frequency earthquakes in Tokachi-oki near the junction of the Kuril and Japan trenches revealed by using array signal processing

Earth, Planets and Space volume 60, pages 871–875 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

We have developed a signal-processing method for array data recorded at densely and widely distributed tiltmeter stations in Japan and analyzed the data recorded during the last 5 years. Filtered seismograms were analyzed to detect coherent seismic waves and estimate the epicenters. In order to identify very-low frequency earthquakes (VLFEs) with only low-frequency energies only, we selected only events not listed in the earthquake catalogue provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency from all of the detected events. The epicenters of the obtained VLFEs were estimated to be distributed not only along the Nankai Trough, where the events occurred on the reverse faults in the well-developed accretionary prism, but also in Tokachi-oki without accretion. This result suggests that even in such a region, VLFEs can occur on a shallower portion of the plate boundary than the seismogenic region of ordinary earthquakes and/or in a deformed area of the overriding plate along the subduction zone without accretion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Ten-nodai 3-1, Tsukuba, 305-0006, Japan

    Youichi Asano & Kazushige Obara

  2. Research Center for Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki-aza-aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Yoshihiro Ito

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  1. Youichi Asano
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  2. Kazushige Obara
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  3. Yoshihiro Ito
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Correspondence to Youichi Asano.

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Asano, Y., Obara, K. & Ito, Y. Spatiotemporal distribution of very-low frequency earthquakes in Tokachi-oki near the junction of the Kuril and Japan trenches revealed by using array signal processing. Earth Planet Sp 60, 871–875 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352839

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Key words

  • Very-low frequency earthquake
  • array signal processing
  • subduction
  • Tokachi-oki