Fig. 6

Geometrical illustration of the cycle made of seismic slip, afterslip and interseismic creep. The dashed line is given by (38), representing the condition for asperity failure. The dotted line is given by (39), representing the condition for interseismic fault creep. The state of the fault is \(P_1\) at the beginning of the seismic event, \(P_2\) at the end of the event and \(P_3\) at the end of afterslip. The lengths of the catheti are the amplitudes \(U_{\mathrm{s}}\) of seismic slip and \(U_{\mathrm{a}}\) of afterslip, respectively. From \(P_3\) to \(P_1\), the fault is subject to tectonic loading and creep. Arrows indicate the motion of the representative point of the system during the cycle