Bathymetry Change Investigation of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

Abstract

Bathymetry change due to the 2011 Tohoku (M9.0) earthquake was investigated through satellite altimetryderived free-air gravity anomalies (SAFAGA) and shipborne measurements. The earthquake occurred at the plate boundaries near the northeastern coast of Japan, where the oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate along deep-sea trench. Data analyzed in this study include SAFAGA from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), shipborne bathymetry (SB) from the U.S. National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth-Science And Technology (JAMSTEC). To estimate the bathymetry change, a reference bathymetry before the earthquake was predicted by gravity-geologic method (GGM) and Smith & Sandwell’s (SAS) method. In comparison with the bathymetry models before the earthquake, GGM bathymetry model generated by a tuning density contrast of 17.04 g/cm3 by downward continuation method was selected because it shows better bathymetry in the short wavelength below about 6 km. From the results, remarkable bathymetry change of about ±50 m was found on the west side of the Japan Trench caused by the earthquake.