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Low-frequency earthquakes observed in close vicinity of repeating earthquakes in the brittle upper crust of Hakodate, Hokkaido, northern Japan
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  • Keisuke Yoshida,
  • Akira Hasegawa,
  • Shinako Noguchi,
  • Keiji Kasahara
Keisuke Yoshida
Tohoku University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Akira Hasegawa
Tohoku University
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Shinako Noguchi
Association for the Development of Earthquake Prediction
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Keiji Kasahara
Association for the Development of Earthquake Prediction
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Abstract

We conducted a detailed investigation of an earthquake cluster distributed from the lower crust to the upper crust beneath Hakodate, Hokkaido, which included both low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) and regular earthquakes. Relocated hypocentres clearly show that both the LFEs and regular earthquakes occurred close to each other in the brittle upper crust of this non-volcanic area, while only LFEs occurred in the lower crust. This indicates that LFEs can occur not only in the ductile lower crust, but also in the brittle upper crust, which suggests that LFEs can occur in an environment similar to that of regular earthquakes. Regular earthquakes that occur in close vicinity of LFEs have very similar waveforms and nearly overlapping source regions, which indicate that they reflect the repeated rupture of the same asperity patch on a fault. Temporally, the intervals between events in the repeating earthquake sequence were very short, thus suggesting that they were caused by a sudden increase in pore pressure. The cluster of LFEs and repeating earthquakes, which has a rod-like distribution extending from the bottom of the crust to the surface and tilted slightly eastward, might represent a pathway of aqueous fluid movement sourced from the subducting slab.
17 Sep 2020Published in Geophysical Journal International volume 223 issue 3 on pages 1724-1740. 10.1093/gji/ggaa418