Long-Term Interactions Between Intermediate Depth and Shallow Seismicity in North Chile Subduction Zone

Abstract

We document interactions between intermediate depth and interplate seismicity in the North Chile subduction zone, over a 25 year period (1990–2015). We show that the 2005 Mw 7.8 Tarapaca slab-pull earthquake was followed by 9 years of enhanced deep and shallow seismicity, together with the decrease of eastward average GPS velocities and associated interplate coupling, eventually leading to the 2014 Mw 8.1 Iquique megathrust earthquake. In contrast, megathrust ruptures (e.g., Mw 8.0 Antofagasta in 1995, or Mw 8.1 Iquique in 2014) initiate several years of silent background seismicity in the studied area, both at shallow and intermediate depths. The plunge of a rigid slab into a viscous asthenospheric mantle could explain the observed synchronization between deep and shallow seismicity and their long-term interactions.