Extreme plate boundary localization promotes shallow earthquake slip at the Japan Trench

The 2011 moment magnitude 9.1 Tohoku-oki earthquake is exceptional among great earthquakes for having peak slip of ~50 to 70 meters on the shallowest portion of the plate boundary megathrust. Drill cores and geophysical logs from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 405 demonstrate that the megathrust preferentially develops at the top or base of the pelagic clay in the sedimentary layers present on the incoming Pacific Plate, where pronounced contrasts in physical properties occur. This preference results in a narrow, weak fault located at a major mechanical contact between frontal prism mud and subducted sediments, which enhances the tendency for shallow seismic slip, suggesting that the Japan Trench may be more susceptible to ruptures with large shallow slip than are margins without weak clays.

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Journal
Science
Published
2025-12-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady0234
Primary Topic
earthquake and tectonic studies
Type
article
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article

Extreme plate boundary localization promotes shallow earthquake slip at the Japan Trench

Yu‐Chun Chang, Ron Hackney, N. Okutsu, Huiyun Guo et al.
Science
earthquake and tectonic studies
article

Extreme plate boundary localization promotes shallow earthquake slip at the Japan Trench

Yu‐Chun Chang, Ron Hackney, N. Okutsu, Huiyun Guo, Hideo Hosono, Mai‐Linh Doan, Srisharan Shreedharan, Ayumu Miyakawa, Morgane M.Y. Brunet, Christine Regalla, Masao Iwai, A. LaPlante, J. D. Kirkpatrick, Yuki Morono, Colin Brown, Rina Fukuchi, María José Jurado, T.N. Jeppson, Matt J. Ikari, S. Satolli, Penggang Pei, Yuzuru Yamamoto, Yasuyuki Nakamura, Weiren Lin, Derya Gürer, Lena Maeda, P. Vannucchi, Hiroki Sone, Amy Gough, A. Fintel, H. Okuda, E. Troy Rasbury, Jonathan Ford, Nana Kamiya, M. Rene Castillo, Chijun Sun, Toshiya Kanamatsu, Rebecca T. Robertson, S. Toczko, Uisdean Nicholson, Takeru Yoshimoto, Akira Ijiri, C. Ross, Tsuyoshi Ishikawa, Piero Bellanova, Kohtaro Ujiie, Marianne Conin, Charlotte Pizer, Yohei Hamada, Asuka Yamaguchi, Jenna Everard, P. M. Fulton, H. M. Savage, Taizo UCHIDA, Junli Zhang, M. Hagino, Nobuhisa Eguchi, K. Schaible
article en

Abstract

The 2011 moment magnitude 9.1 Tohoku-oki earthquake is exceptional among great earthquakes for having peak slip of ~50 to 70 meters on the shallowest portion of the plate boundary megathrust. Drill cores and geophysical logs from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 405 demonstrate that the megathrust preferentially develops at the top or base of the pelagic clay in the sedimentary layers present on the incoming Pacific Plate, where pronounced contrasts in physical properties occur. This preference results in a narrow, weak fault located at a major mechanical contact between frontal prism mud and subducted sediments, which enhances the tendency for shallow seismic slip, suggesting that the Japan Trench may be more susceptible to ruptures with large shallow slip than are margins without weak clays.

ScienceVol. 391(6784)
Yamagata University (JP), Hiroshima University (JP), Australian National University (AU), Utah State University (US), California Institute of Technology (US), United States Geological Survey (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Planetary Science Institute (US), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JP), University of Nevada, Reno (US), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Tsukuba (JP), Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (US), Naruto University of Education (JP), Ifremer (FR), Baylor University (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), University of Bremen (DE), Université du Québec à Rimouski (CA), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Durham University (GB), Universität Innsbruck (AT), University of Washington (US), Northern Arizona University (US), Cornell University (US), Kyoto University (JP), Heidelberg University (DE), Tsukuba University of Technology (JP), Heriot-Watt University (GB), University of Chieti-Pescara (IT), Institut des Sciences de la Terre (FR), Kochi Rehabilitation Institute (JP), Geological Survey of Japan (JP), Université Gustave Eiffel (FR), Earth and Space Research (US), National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (IT), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), GeoRessources (FR), University of Florence (IT), The Ohio State University (US), Stony Brook University (US), Kobe University (JP), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (FR), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (JP), The University of Tokyo (JP), Kōchi University (JP), University of California, Davis (US), The University of Texas at Austin (US), RWTH Aachen University (DE), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), Université de Lorraine (FR)
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earthquake and tectonic studies
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