Abstract

A cross-section of earthquakes located in northeastern Japan is presented by using pPdepths reported by the International Seismological Centre. Travel-time corrections for the water layer were used to recompute pP-depths of earthquakes located below the sea regions. Seven new focal-mechanism solutions, based on teleseismic and Japanese data, were determined for this region. The reconstructed cross-section shows a double seismic zone at intermediate depths of 80–150 km. Earthquakes located within the upper seismic plane are characterized by down-dip compression while those in the lower plane, located about 35 km below the other seismic plane, are characterized by down-dip extension. These observations suggest that, at these depths, stresses attributable to a simple “unbending” of a plate may contribute to the generation of earthquakes in addition to stresses generated by the gravitational sinking of the lithosphere. A detailed cross-section of shallow earthquakes in the same area between the trench and eastern coast of northeastern Honshu is presented along with focal-mechanism solutions. This cross-section delineates more clearly the seismic zones characterized by normal and low-angle thrust faulting.

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