Earthquake sequence simulations with measured properties for JFAST core samples.

Abstract

Since the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, multi-disciplinary observational studies have promoted our understanding of both the coseismic and long-term behaviour of the Japan Trench subduction zone. We also have suggestions for mechanical properties of the fault from the experimental side. In the present study, numerical models of earthquake sequences are presented, accounting for the experimental outcomes and being consistent with observations of both long-term and coseismic fault behaviour and thermal measurements. Among the constraints, a previous study of friction experiments for samples collected in the Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project (JFAST) showed complex rate dependences: a and a-b values change with the slip rate. In order to express such complexity, we generalize a rate- and state-dependent friction law to a quadratic form in terms of the logarithmic slip rate. The constraints from experiments reduced the degrees of freedom of the model significantly, and we managed to find a plausible model by changing only a few parameters. Although potential scale effects between lab experiments and natural faults are important problems, experimental data may be useful as a guide in exploring the huge model parameter space.This article is part of the themed issue 'Faulting, friction and weakening: from slow to fast motion'.