Geodetic constraint on the slip distribution of the 2006 Central Kuril earthquake

• Published in: Earth, Planets and Space
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Hiroaki, Kasahara, Minoru
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2007
• Subjects: Space and Planetary Science; Geology; Sakhalin
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/bf03352052; https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/BF03352052.pdf; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/BF03352052/fulltext.html; http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/BF03352052

Abstract We have investigated the slip distribution of the 15 November 2006 Central Kuril earthquake off Simushir Island using continuous GPS data. A dense GPS network on Hokkaido Island, northern Japan, and Sakhalin Island detected coseismic horizontal displacements of ~9 mm despite large epicentral distances of about 900–1200 km. Eastward displacements at the sites decrease to the south, and this spatial distribution feature constrains the slip on the three subfaults. Our data suggest that little slip has occurred in the southern and northern parts, but that a 6-m slip has occurred in the center of the focal region. This interpretation fits well with the detailed slip distribution inferred from teleseismic waveform inversions. The total seismic moment, 2.8 × 1021 N m, is approximately the value indicated using by the Global CMT solution. Our result implies that there remains a seismic gap between this event and the 1952 great Kamchatkan earthquake that is large enough for an M > 8 earthquake.