Modeling of slow slip events along the deep subduction zone in the Kii Peninsula and Tokai regions, southwest Japan

Abstract

In the subduction zone of southwest Japan, short-term slow slip events (SSEs) occur with low frequency tremors (LFTs) at intervals of several months. Recently LFTs have been located with high resolution and their activities have been examined in detail. By setting the generation zones of SSEs such that these zones contain the LFT hypocenters, we simulate SSEs on a 3D plate interface beneath the Kii Peninsula and Tokai regions by using a rate- and state-dependent friction law with a small cut-off velocity for the evolution effect. Our numerical results show that recurrence intervals of SSEs in the southern and central Kii Peninsula, in the northern Kii Peninsula, and in the Tokai region are 2.5-3.0, 4.8-5.6, and 3.5-4.5months, respectively, which are consistent with observed SSE activity. Our simulation also produces a multisegment event that propagates from the Kii to Tokai segments at a speed of 10km/day, which is consistent with observations. The results suggest that generation zones of LFTs coincide with SSE regions and that these two events are different manifestations of the same slip process along the subduction zone. We also perform 3D modeling of faster events accompanied by short-term SSEs by considering local circular patches with a smaller critical displacement, surrounded by SSE zones with a larger critical displacement. Local circular patches are set at the observed LFT locations. The simulation reproduces fast events that propagate at a speed of 100-200km/day during a single SSE event. © 2012 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.