Large-scale dynamic triggering of shallow slow slip enhanced by overlying sedimentary wedge

ABSTRACT Slow slip events have become recognized in the last decade as an important mode of fault slip, and are most widely observed at subduction zones. Many episodes of tectonic tremor

(related to slow slip) have been triggered by distant earthquakes due to dynamic-stress changes from passing seismic waves. However, there are few clear examples of large, geodetically

detected slow slip events triggered by distant earthquakes. Here we use analyses of seismic and geodetic data to show that the magnitude 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand in 2016

triggered a large slow slip event between 250 and 600 km away. The slow slip was shallow, at less than 15 km deep, and spanned more than 15,000 km2 of the central and northern Hikurangi

subduction margin. The slow slip initiated immediately after the earthquake, lasted one to two weeks and was accompanied by a swarm of seismicity. We show that changes in dynamic stress in

the slow slip source area ranged from 100 to 600 kPa—approximately 1,000 times greater than the static-stress changes of 0.2 to 0.7 kPa. We therefore propose that the slow slip event was

triggered by dynamic-stress changes caused by passing seismic waves. Furthermore, the dynamic-stress changes were greatest on the shallow subduction interface, at less than 10 km depth, in a

region overlain by a sedimentary wedge that acts as a waveguide, trapping seismic energy and probably promoting triggering of slip. This suggests that shallow slow slip events are more

easily triggered by dynamic-stress changes compared with deep events. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $29.99 / 30 days cancel any time

Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per year only $21.58 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access

to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our

FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS LONG-LIVED SHALLOW SLOW-SLIP EVENTS ON THE SUNDA MEGATHRUST Article 03 May 2021 GEOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE

MECHANISMS OF SLOW EARTHQUAKES Article 23 March 2021 EFFECTS OF EPISODIC SLOW SLIP ON SEISMICITY AND STRESS NEAR A SUBDUCTION-ZONE MEGATHRUST Article Open access 21 December 2021 REFERENCES

* Dragert, H., Wang, K. & James, T. A silent slip event on the deeper Cascadia subduction interface. _Science_ 292, 1525–1528 (2001). Article  Google Scholar  * Beroza, G. C. & Ide,

S. Slow earthquakes and nonvolcanic tremor. _Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci._ 39, 271–296 (2011). Article  Google Scholar  * Peng, Z. & Gomberg, J. An integrated perspective of the

continuum between earthquakes and slow-slip phenomena. _Nat. Geosci._ 3, 599–607 (2010). Article  Google Scholar  * Schwartz, S. Y. & Rokosky, J. M. Slow slip events and seismic tremor

at circum-pacific subduction zones. _Rev. Geophys._ 45, RG3004 (2007). Article  Google Scholar  * Kato, A. et al. Propagation of slow slip leading up to the 2011 _M_w 9.0 Tohoku-Oki

earthquake. _Science_ 335, 705–708 (2012). Article  Google Scholar  * Ito, Y. et al. Episodic slow slip events in the Japan subduction zone before the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake.

_Tectonophysics_ 600, 14–26 (2013). Article  Google Scholar  * Obara, K. & Kato, A. Connecting slow earthquakes to huge earthquakes. _Science_ 353, 253–257 (2016). Article  Google

Scholar  * Radiguet, M. et al. Triggering of the 2014 _M_w 7.3 Papanoa earthquake by a slow slip event in Guerrero, Mexico. _Nat. Geosci._ 9, 829–834 (2016). Article  Google Scholar  * Ruiz,

S. et al. Intense foreshocks and a slow slip event preceded the 2014 Iquique _M_w 8.1 earthquake. _Science_ 345, 1165–1169 (2014). Article  Google Scholar  * Peng, Z. & Chao, K.

Non-volcanic tremor beneath the Central Range in Taiwan triggered by the 2001 _M_w7.8 Kunlun earthquake. _Geophys. J. Int._ 175, 825–829 (2008). Article  Google Scholar  * Rubinstein, J. L.

et al. Seismic wave triggering of nonvolcanic tremor, episodic tremor and slip, and earthquakes on Vancouver Island. _J. Geophys. Res._ 114, B00A01 (2009). Article  Google Scholar  * Fry,

B., Chao, K., Bannister, S., Peng, Z. & Wallace, L. Deep tremor in New Zealand triggered by the 2010 _M_w8.8 Chile earthquake. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 38, L15306 (2011). Article  Google

Scholar  * Francoiş-Holden, C. et al. The MW 6.6 Gisborne Earthquake of 2007: preliminary records and general source characterisation. _Bull. NZ Soc. Earthq. Eng._ 41, 266–277 (2008). Google

Scholar  * Hirose, H., Hirahara, K., Kimata, F., Fujii, N. & Miyazaki, S. A slow thrust slip event following the two 1996 Hyuganada Earthquakes beneath the Bungo Channel, southwest

Japan. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 26, 3237–3240 (1999). Article  Google Scholar  * Itaba, S. & Ando, R. A slow slip event triggered by teleseismic surface waves. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 38,

L21306 (2011). Article  Google Scholar  * Zigone, D. et al. Triggering of tremors and slow slip event in Guerrero, Mexico, by the 2010 _M_w8.8 Maule, Chile, earthquake. _J. Geophys. Res._

117, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009160 (2012). * Araki, E. et al. Recurring and triggered slow slip events near the trench at the Nankai Trough subduction megathrust. _Science_ 356,

1157–1160 (2017). Article  Google Scholar  * Hirose, H., Kimura, H., Enescu, B. & Aoi, S. Recurrent slow slip event likely hastened by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. _Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.

USA_ 109, 15157–15161 (2012). Article  Google Scholar  * Wei, M., Liu, Y., Kaneko, Y., McGuire, J. & Bilham, R. Dynamic triggering of creep events in the Salton Trough, Southern

California by regional M ≥ 5.4 earthquakes constrained by geodetic observations and numerical simulations. _Earth Planet. Sci. Lett._ 427, 1–10 (2015). Article  Google Scholar  * Peng, Z.,

Shelly, D. R. & Ellsworth, W. L. Delayed dynamic triggering of deep tremor along the Parkfield-Cholame section of the San Andreas Fault following the 2014 M6.0 South Napa earthquake.

_Geophys. Res. Lett._ 42, 7916–7922 (2015). Article  Google Scholar  * Hamling, I. J. et al. Complex multi-fault rupture during the 2016 _M_w 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, New Zealand. _Science_

356, 6334 (2017). Article  Google Scholar  * Kaiser, A. et al. The Kaikōura (New Zealand) earthquake: preliminary seismological report. _Seismol. Res. Lett._ 88, 727–739 (2017). Article 

Google Scholar  * Wallace, L. M. & Beavan, J. Diverse slow slip behavior at the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. _J. Geophys. Res._ 115, B12402 (2010). Article  Google Scholar 

* McCaffrey, R. Time-dependent inversion of three-component continuous GPS for steady and transient sources in northern Cascadia. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 36, GL036784 (2009). Article  Google

Scholar  * Williams, C. A. et al. Revised interface geometry for the Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand. _Seismol. Res. Lett._ 84, 1066–1073 (2013). Article  Google Scholar  * Segall, P.

& Matthews, M. Time dependent inversion of geodetic data. _J. Geophys. Res._ 102, 22391–22409 (1997). Article  Google Scholar  * Miyazaki, S., Segall, P., McGuire, J. J., Kato, T. &

Hatanaka, Y. Spatial and temporal evolution of stress and slip rate during the 2000 Tokai slow earthquake. _J. Geophys. Res._ 111, B03409 (2006). Google Scholar  * Wallace, L. M., Beavan,

J., Bannister, S. & Williams, C. Simultaneous long-term and short-term slow slip events at the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand: implications for processes that control slow slip

event occurrence, duration, and migration. _J. Geophys. Res._ 117, B11402 (2012). Google Scholar  * Bartlow, N. M., Wallace, L. M., Beavan, R. J., Bannister, S. & Segall, P.

Time-dependent modeling of slow slip events and associated seismicity and tremor at the Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand. _J. Geophys. Res._ 119, 734–753 (2014). Article  Google

Scholar  * Ristau, J. Implementation of routine regional moment tensor analysis in New Zealand. _Seismol. Res. Lett._ 79, 400–415 (2008). Article  Google Scholar  * Meng, L., Huang, H.,

Bürgmann, R., Ampuero, J. P. & Strader, A. Dual megathrust slip behaviors of the 2014 Iquique earthquake sequence. _Earth Planet. Sci. Lett._ 411, 177–187 (2015). Article  Google Scholar

  * Kodaira, S. et al. High pore fluid pressure may cause silent slip in the Nankai Trough. _Science_ 304, 1295–1298 (2004). Article  Google Scholar  * Liu, Y. & Rice, J. R. Spontaneous

and triggered aseismic deformation transients in a subduction fault model. _J. Geophys. Res._ 112, B09404 (2007). Google Scholar  * Rubinstein, J. L., La Rocca, M., Vidale, J. E., Creager,

K. C. & Wech, A. G. Tidal modulation of nonvolcanic tremor. _Science_ 319, 186–189 (2008). Article  Google Scholar  * Thomas, A., Nadeau, R. M. & Bürgmann, R. Tremor-tide

correlations and near-lithostatic pore pressure on the deep San Andreas fault. _Nature_ 462, 1048–1051 (2009). Article  Google Scholar  * Hamling, I. J. et al. Stress transfer between

thirteen successive dyke intrusions in Ethiopia. _Nat. Geosci._ 3, 713–717 (2010). Article  Google Scholar  * Wallace, L. M. et al. The kinematics of a transition from subduction to

strike-slip: an example from the central New Zealand plate boundary. _J. Geophys. Res._ 117, B02405 (2012). Google Scholar  * King, G. C., Stein, R. S. & Lin, J. Static stress changes

and the triggering of earthquakes. _Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am._ 84, 935–953 (1994). Google Scholar  * Cochran, E., Vidale, J. & Tanaka, S. Earth tides can trigger shallow thrust fault

earthquakes. _Science_ 306, 1164–1166 (2004). Article  Google Scholar  * van der Elst, N. J. & Brodsky, E. E. Connecting near-field and far-field earthquake triggering to dynamic strain.

_J. Geophys. Res._ 115, B07311 (2010). Article  Google Scholar  * Hill, D. P. & Prejean, S. in _Treatise on Geophysics_ Vol. 4, 2nd edn (ed. Kanamori, H.) 273–304 (Elsevier, 2015). Book

  Google Scholar  * Olsen, K. B. et al. Strong shaking in Los Angeles expected from southern San Andreas earthquake. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 33, L07305 (2006). Google Scholar  * Gomberg, J.

Permanently enhanced dynamic triggering probabilities as evidenced by two M > 7.5 earthquakes. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 40, 4828–4833 (2013). Article  Google Scholar  * Fan, W. &

Shearer, P. M. Fault interaction and triggering during the 10 January 2012 _M_w 7.2 Sumatra earthquake. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 43, 1934–1942 (2016). Article  Google Scholar  * Saffer, D. M.

& Wallace, L. M. The frictional, hydrologic, metamorphic, and thermal habitat of shallow slow earthquakes. _Nat. Geosci._ 8, 594–600 (2015). Article  Google Scholar  * Kamei, R., Pratt,

R. G. & Tsuji, T. Waveform tomography imaging of a megasplay fault system in the seismogenic Nankai subduction zone. _Earth Planet. Sci. Lett._ 317–318, 343–353 (2012). Article  Google

Scholar  * Bassett, D., Sutherland, R., and, S. & Henrys, S. Slow wavespeeds and fluid overpressure in a region of shallow geodetic locking and slow slip, Hikurangi subduction margin,

New Zealand. _Earth Planet. Sci. Lett._ 389, 1–13 (2014). Article  Google Scholar  * Bangs, N. L. B., Westbrook, G. K. & Ladd, J. W. Seismic velocities from the Barbados ridge complex:

indicators of high pore fluid pressures in an accretionary complex. _J. Geophys. Res._ 95, 8767–8782 (1990). Article  Google Scholar  * Bartlow, N. M., Miyazaki, S., Bradley, A. M. &

Segall, P. Space-time correlation of slip and tremor during the 2009 Cascadia slow slip event. _Geophys. Res. Lett._ 38, L18309 (2011). Article  Google Scholar  * Komatitsch, D. & Tromp,

J. Introduction to the spectral elemental method for three-dimensional seismic wave propagation. _Geophys. J. Int._ 139, 806–822 (1999). Article  Google Scholar  * Komatitsch, D. &

Vilotte, J.-P. The spectral element method: an efficient tool to simulate the seismic response of 2D and 3D geological structures. _Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am._ 88, 368–392 (1998). Google

Scholar  * Eberhart-Phillips, D., Reyners, M., Bannister, S., Chadwick, M. & Ellis, S. Establishing a versatile 3-D seismic velocity model for New Zealand. _Seismol. Res. Lett._ 81,

992–1000 (2010). Article  Google Scholar  * Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Banninster, S. 3-D imaging of the northern Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand: variations in subducted sediment,

slab fluids, and slow slip. _Geophys. J. Int._ 201, 838–855 (2015). Article  Google Scholar  * Kaiser, A., Van Houtte, C., Perrin, N., Wotherspoon, L. & McVerry, G. Site characterisation

of GeoNet stations for the New Zealand strong motion database. _Bull. NZ Soc. Earthq. Eng._ 50, 39–49 (2017). Google Scholar  * Peng, Z. & Ben-Zion, Y. Spatio-temporal variations of

crustal anisotropy from similar events in aftershocks of the 1999 M7.4 İzmit and M7.1 Düzce, Turkey, earthquake sequences. _Geophys. J. Int._ 160, 1027–1043 (2005). Article  Google Scholar 

* Press, W. H. _FORTRAN Numerical Recipes: Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN 90_ (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996). Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank www.geonet.org.nz for

providing the cGPS and seismological data, and AllTerra NZ for additional GPS data. We acknowledge funding support for this work from GNS Science, the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of

New Zealand, and the NZ Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE). L.M.W. and N.B. acknowledge support from NSF grants OCE-1551876 and OCE-1551929. We wish to acknowledge the

contribution of the NeSI high-performance computing facilities to the results of this research. New Zealand’s national facilities are provided by the NZ eScience Infrastructure and funded

jointly by NeSI’s collaborator institutions and through MBIE’s Research Infrastructure programme. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * GNS Science, Lower Hutt, 5011, New Zealand

Laura M. Wallace, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Sigrún Hreinsdóttir, Ian Hamling, Elisabetta D’Anastasio & Bill Fry * University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, Austin, Texas, 78758, USA Laura M.

Wallace * School of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332, USA Zhigang Peng * Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri,

65211, USA Noel Bartlow Authors * Laura M. Wallace View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Yoshihiro Kaneko View author publications You can

also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sigrún Hreinsdóttir View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Ian Hamling View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Zhigang Peng View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Noel Bartlow

View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Elisabetta D’Anastasio View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * Bill Fry View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS L.M.W. conceived the study, undertook the TDEFNODE inversions, and led

the writing of the paper. Y.K. undertook the dynamic-stress-change modelling, and contributed to the interpretations and writing of the paper. N.B. was responsible for the Network Inversion

Filter inversions. I.H. undertook the Coulomb stress change modelling. S.H. and E.D’A. undertook processing of the cGPS data. Z.P. and B.F. contributed locations of repeaters during the SSE

and provided seismological expertise and insights into remote triggering of SSEs. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Laura M. Wallace. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors

declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary Information (PDF 2736 kb) SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary Information

(MP4 5283 kb) SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary Information (MP4 6879 kb) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Wallace, L., Kaneko, Y.,

Hreinsdóttir, S. _et al._ Large-scale dynamic triggering of shallow slow slip enhanced by overlying sedimentary wedge. _Nature Geosci_ 10, 765–770 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo3021

Download citation * Received: 10 March 2017 * Accepted: 04 August 2017 * Published: 11 September 2017 * Issue Date: 01 October 2017 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo3021 SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative