Frequent excitations of T waves by earthquakes in the South Mariana Arc

Abstract

We used broadband stations in Taiwan and on the Ryukyu Arc islands to investigate T waves induced by earthquakes in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction zone. Of the 48 earthquakes that took place in 2005, 17 earthquakes exhibited T-wave signals consistent with predicted arrival times at stations. Of theses T-excited events, 13 were located in the South Mariana Arc, where the isobaths exhibit strong concave curvature, and were predominantly of normal faulting type. The energies of observed T waves were used quantitatively to evaluate the relative efficiency of receiver-side acoustic–elastic conversions by Gamma calculations. Results show that the steep slopes of offshore bathymetry together with nearly perpendicular angles of back azimuth relative to local isobaths are suitable conditions for T waves observations. In 2010, two clusters of repeated moderate earthquakes in the north and south ends of the Mariana Arc displayed stark contrasts in terms of T-wave excitations despite their normal faulting type. Examining of this discrepancy indicate that a specific curvature together with a specific radiation pattern accounts for the frequent excitations of T waves from shallow earthquakes in the South Mariana Arc.