Tying the spectral ends of the M9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake sequence: High-frequency radiators and early quasi-static afterslip

The March 11, 2011 M9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake was recorded by dense seismological and geodetical networks deployed in Japan, as well as by a vast number of seismic stations worldwide. These observations allow us to study the properties of the subduction interface with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. Here we examine the spectral tails of the co- and post-seismic stages using local geodetic and seismological recordings. First, we study the details of high-frequency (HF) energy radiation during the rupture by using strong-motion recordings. Second, we invert 1Hz GPS data for the spatio-temporal distribution of early afterslip. In order to constrain the spatial distribution of HF radiators we model waveform envelopes recorded by Kik-net borehole accelerometers located in northeastern Japan. We compute theoretical envelopes for waves travelling in a heterogeneous scattering medium, and invert for the location and amplitude of energy radiators for frequencies ranging from 1 to 16 Hz. Because the inversion is extremely sensitive to the response of individual sites, we adopt an empirical approach and iteratively separate the source and site terms from the stacked spectra of numerous events recorded by the network. The output response functions for each site are used to stabilize the inversion. Preliminary results are consistent with far-field observations and suggest that the HF energy emitted during the M9.0 event originated at the down-dip limit of the rupture zone. We use the Principal Component Analysis Inversion Method to determine the time history of slip on the megathrust during seismic slip and aseismic afterslip. I will present a method to constrain the static inversion by using repeating earthquakes. This approach allows documenting the seismic and aseismic phases in a self consistent way.