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Volume 54 Supplement 11

Special Issue: Slip and Flow Processes in and below the Seismogenic Region

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Strain accumulation in and around Ou Backbone Range, northeastern Japan as observed by a dense GPS network

Earth, Planets and Space volume 54, pages 1071–1076 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

A dense GPS network was established in 1997 around Ou Backbone Range (OBR), northeastern Japan, by deploying 28 continuous GPS stations to complement the sparse portion of GEONET operated by the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan. The aim of the network is to investigate the present surface deformation and understand the relationship between earthquake occurrence and the deformation process of the island-arc crust. Our GPS data are analyzed using a precise point positioning strategy of GIPSY/OASIS-II. Results of GEONET in daily SINEX files have been supplied by the GSI. Producing grid data of horizontal velocities and taking spatial derivatives, we derived a map of strain rate distribution. The results show that the region between 38.8° and 39.8°N in the OBR experiences notable concentration of east-west contraction. The region coincides with the area of active seismicity, including the focal areas of large earthquakes occurring in 1896 (M7.2), 1900 (M7.0), 1962 (M6.5), 1970 (M6.2), and 1998 (M6.1). Observed strain is larger than can be explained by the total moment release of earthquakes that occurred in the same period as this study. Possible sources of strain concentration may be viscoelastic deformation due to large earthquakes and/or aseismic slip along the deeper extension of the active faults.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Satoshi Miura, Toshiya Sato, Kenji Tachibana, Yoshimi Satake & Akira Hasegawa

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  1. Satoshi Miura
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  2. Toshiya Sato
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  3. Kenji Tachibana
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  4. Yoshimi Satake
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  5. Akira Hasegawa
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Correspondence to Satoshi Miura.

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Miura, S., Sato, T., Tachibana, K. et al. Strain accumulation in and around Ou Backbone Range, northeastern Japan as observed by a dense GPS network. Earth Planet Sp 54, 1071–1076 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353304

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