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The tsunami source area of the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake estimated from tsunami travel times and its relationship to the 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake

Earth, Planets and Space volume 56, pages367–372(2004)Cite this article

Abstract

We estimate the tsunami source area of the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake (Mw 8.0) from observed tsunami travel times at 17 Japanese tide gauge stations. The estimated tsunami source area (∼ 1.4 × 104 km2) coincides with the western-half of the ocean-bottom deformation area (∼2.52 × 104 km2) of the 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake (Mw 8.1), previously inferred from tsunami waveform inversion. This suggests that the 2003 event ruptured only the western-half of the 1952 rupture extent. Geographical distribution of the maximum tsunami heights in 2003 differs significantly from that of the 1952 tsunami, supporting this hypothesis. Analysis of first-peak tsunami travel times indicates that a major uplift of the ocean-bottom occurred approximately 30 km to the NNW of the mainshock epicenter, just above a major asperity inferred from seismic waveform inversion.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Deep Sea Research Department, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, 2-15 Natsuhima-cho, Yokosuka, 237-0061, Japan

    Kenji Hirata

  2. Institute of Seismology and Volcanology, Hokkaido University, N10W8 Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Yuichiro Tanioka

  3. Active Fault Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Site C7 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, 305-8567, Japan

    Kenji Satake

  4. Seamus Ltd., 2235 Kizaki, Toyosaka, 950-3304, Japan

    Shigeru Yamaki

  5. U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA

    Eric L. Geist

Authors
  1. Kenji Hirata
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  2. Yuichiro Tanioka
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  3. Kenji Satake
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  4. Shigeru Yamaki
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  5. Eric L. Geist
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenji Hirata.

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Hirata, K., Tanioka, Y., Satake, K. et al. The tsunami source area of the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake estimated from tsunami travel times and its relationship to the 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake. Earth Planet Sp 56, 367–372 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353066

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Key words

  • The 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake
  • tsunami
  • tide gauge records
  • the 1952 Tokachi-oki earthquake