Revealing the cluster of slow transients behind a large slow slip event.

ABSTRACT: Capable of reaching similar magnitudes to large megathrust earthquakes [M_w (moment magnitude) > 7], slow slip events play a major role in accommodating tectonic motion on plate boundaries through predominantly aseismic rupture. We demonstrate here that large slow slip events are a cluster of short-duration slow transients. Using a dense catalog of low-frequency earthquakes as a guide, we investigate the M_w 7.5 slow slip event that occurred in 2006 along the subduction interface 40 km beneath Guerrero, Mexico. We show that while the long-period surface displacement, as recorded by Global Positioning System, suggests a 6-month duration, the motion in the direction of tectonic release only sporadically occurs over 55 days, and its surface signature is atten

SUBMITTER: Frank WB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5976274 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature