Tsunamigenic Earthquakes at Along-dip Double Segmentation and Along-strike Single Segmentation near Japan

A distinct difference of the earthquake activity in megathrust subduction zones is pointed out, concerning seismic segmentations in the vicinity of Japan—that is, the apparent distribution of earthquake hypocenters characterized by Along-dip Double Segmentation (ADDS) and Along-strike Single Segmentation (ASSS). ADDS is double aligned seismic-segmentation of trench-ward seismic segments along the Japan Trench and island-ward seismic segments along the Pacific coast of the Japan Islands. The 2011 Tohoku-oki megathrust earthquake of Mw9.0 occurred in ADDS. In the meantime, the subduction zone along the Nankai Trough, the western part of Japan, is the source region of a multiple rupture of seismic segments by the 1707 Houei earthquake, the greatest earthquake in the history of Japan. This subduction zone is narrow under the Japan Islands, which is composed of single aligned seismic-segmentation side by side along the Nankai Trough, which is typical of ASSS. Looking at the world seismicity, the 1960 and 2010 Chile megathrusts, for example, occurred in ASSS, whereas the 1952 Kamchatka and the 1964 Alaska megathrusts occurred in ADDS. These megathrusts in ADDS result from the rupture of strong asperity in the trench-ward seismic segments. Since the asperity of earthquakes in OPEN ACCESS J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2015, 3 1179 ASSS is concentrated in the shallow part of subduction zones and the asperity of frequent earthquakes in ADDS is in deeper parts of the island-ward seismic segments than those of ASSS, there must be a difference in tsunami excitations due to earthquakes in ADDS and ASSS. An analysis was made in detail of tsunami and seismic excitations of earthquakes in the vicinity of Japan. Tsunami heights of ASSS earthquakes are about two times larger than those of ADDS earthquakes with the same value of seismic moment. The reason for this different tsunami excitation is also considered in relation to the seismic segmentations of ADDS and ASSS.