Interpretation of interseismic deformations and the seismic cycle associated with large subduction earthquakes

The deformations of the overriding and subducting plates during the seismic cycle associated with large subduction earthquakes are modelled using 2D and 3D finite element techniques. A particular emphasis is put on the interseismic velocities and on the impact of the rheology of the asthenosphere.The distance over which the seismic cycle perturbs significantly the velocities depends upon the ratio of the viscosity in the asthenosphere to the period of the seismic cycle and can reach several thousand km for rheological parameters deduced from the first years of deformation after the Aceh earthquake. For a same early postseismic velocity, a Burger rheology of the asthenosphere implies a smaller duration of the postseismic phase and thus smaller interseismic velocities than a Maxwell rheology. A low viscosity wedge (LVW) modifies very significantly the predicted horizontal and vertical motions in the near and middle fields. In particular, with a LVW, the peak in vertical velocity at the end of the cycle is predicted to be no longer above the deep end of the locked section of the fault but further away, above the continentward limit of the LVW.The lateral viscosity variations linked to the presence at depth of the subducting slab affect substantially the results.The north–south interseismic compression predicted by this preliminary 2D model over more than 1500 km within the Sunda block is in good agreement with the pre-2004 velocities with respect to South-China inferred from GPS observations in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Japan, before the Tohoku earthquake, the eastern part of northern Honshu was subsiding while the western part was uplifting. This transition from subsidence to uplift so far away from the trench is well fitted by the predictions from our models involving a LVW.Most of the results obtained here in a 2D geometry are shown to provide a good estimate of the displacements for fault segments of finite lateral extent, with a 3D spherical geometry, as long as the displacements during the seismic cycle are normalised by the coseismic displacement.

► Relaxation in the asthenosphere governs the deformations during the seismic cycle. ► More than 1000 km away from trench, large transient deformations are predicted. ► A peak in interseismic vertical velocity is expected over the far end of the LVW. ► Our models' predictions fit observed interseismic deformations in Sunda or Japan.