Deformation cycles of subduction earthquakes in a viscoelastic Earth

In this work, we proposed three primary deformation processes that control the earthquake cycle deformation of subduction zones, that is, the viscoelastic relaxation of the earthquake-induced stresses in the upper mantle, the continuous aseismic slip of the fault (afterslip), and the relocking of the fault.

We used the following unified mechanical model to study three different subduction zones that are at different stages of an earthquake cycle.

The model well fits the present GPS observations.

Model results indicate that rheological structure and properties may be similar at different subduction zones.

This work was published on Nature as a review article.

Wang, K., Y. Hu, & J. He (2012), Deformation cycles of subduction earthquakes in a viscoelastic Earth, Nature, 484, 327-332, doi:10.1038/nature11032. Link