EAPSI: Analyzing recent earthquakes in Japan using high resolution topographic data

Kleber Emily J, Tempe AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Societies affected by earthquakes instill policies informed by studies of earthquake geology in order to preserve life and resources. The Western United States and Japan are two areas that have seen recent and severe earthquake activity. These two areas have unique tectonic settings and are actively researching ways to "characterize" earthquakes along fault zones in order to refine seismic hazard. This project will investigate recent seismic events in Japan, focusing on the Itoigawana Shizuoka Tectonic Line, Honshu Island, Japan. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Koji Okumura a noted expert on earthquake geology, at Hiroshima University in Japan. The surface expression of an earthquake can be critical to understanding the characteristics of a rupture event and a fault zone. The cracking, raising, and subsidence of land associated with earthquakes are indicative of processes in the upper, brittle portion of a fault zone. In the last decade, the periodicity and resolution of remotely sensed images from satellite and aerial platforms that can be used to "quantify" the surface have been advanced and applied to studying surface deformation by earthquakes. The complex interplay between earthquakes, surface deformation and surface erosion is broadly known as tectonic geomorphology. The goal of the scientific investigation is to assess seismic risk of the Itoigawana Shizuoka Tectonic Line through the process of objectively mapping faults, quantitatively depicting surface deformation, and understanding fault mechanics and kinematics. The study will assess the fault zone landscape as a function of varying climate, slip rate, geodetic (changing location of GPS stations) rates, and temporal constrains. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.