Migrating shallow slow slip on the Nankai Trough megathrust captured by borehole observatories

Abstract

Patterns of strain accumulation and release offshore in subduction zones are directly linked to the potential for shallow coseismic slip and tsunamigenesis, but these patterns remain elusive. In this work, we analyze formation pore pressure records from three offshore borehole observatories at the Nankai subduction zone, Honshu, Japan, to capture detailed slip-time histories of two slow slip events (SSEs) along the outermost reaches of the plate boundary. Slip initiates ~30 kilometers landward of the trench; migrates seaward at 1 to 2 kilometers per day to within a few kilometers of, and possibly breaching, the trench; and coincides with the onset and migration of tremor and/or very-low-frequency earthquakes. The SSE source region lies in a zone of high pore fluid pressure and low stress, which provides clear observational evidence linking these factors to shallow slow earthquakes.