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Volume 56 Supplement 3

Special Issue: Special section for the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake

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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

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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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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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353066

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