The big impact of small quakes on tectonic tremor synchronization

Tectonic tremor tracks the repeated slow rupture of certain major plate boundary faults. One of the most perplexing aspects about tremor is that some fault segments produce strongly periodic, spatially extensive tremor episodes, while others have more disorganized, asynchronous activity. Here, we measure the size of segments that activate synchronously during tremor episodes and the relationship to regional earthquake rate on major plate boundaries. Tremor synchronization in space seems to be limited by the activity of small, nearby crustal and intraslab earthquakes. This observation can be explained by a competition between the self-synchronization of fault segments and perturbation by regional earthquakes. Our results imply previously unrecognized interactions across subduction systems, in which earthquake activity far from the fault influences whether it breaks in small or large segments.