Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected
Abstract The moment‐duration (M0‐T) scaling law reveals fundamental earthquake physics across various sizes and tectonic settings. However, the validity of the cubic relation (M0 ∝ T3) inferred for large (Mw ≥ 7) megathrust events has been recently questioned due to the scarcity of observations and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112985 |
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| author | Yumin Cui Shaoyang Li Ling Chen Yosuke Aoki |
| author_facet | Yumin Cui Shaoyang Li Ling Chen Yosuke Aoki |
| author_sort | Yumin Cui |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The moment‐duration (M0‐T) scaling law reveals fundamental earthquake physics across various sizes and tectonic settings. However, the validity of the cubic relation (M0 ∝ T3) inferred for large (Mw ≥ 7) megathrust events has been recently questioned due to the scarcity of observations and similarities to slow earthquakes. Here, by compiling events over the past 500 years from global subduction zones, we double the number of earthquakes studied (>260) compared to previous studies. A possible scale change is observed, at moment‐magnitude and duration of ∼7.6 and ∼38.1 s, respectively. The new catalog reveals an accelerated decrease of the scaling exponent as a function of magnitude from 2.5 (Mw ≥ 7) to below 1 (Mw > 8.7), indicating increasingly longer durations than expected for larger events. The rapid increase in duration with earthquake size is interpreted as the interplay of seismogenic bounds, trench‐breaching, and subevents, which delays lateral rupture propagation. Our study aids in understanding slow and fast earthquakes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4b32ebd88b114f48a671328c3a6abbdb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-4b32ebd88b114f48a671328c3a6abbdb2025-08-20T03:39:04ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-04-01528n/an/a10.1029/2024GL112985Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than ExpectedYumin Cui0Shaoyang Li1Ling Chen2Yosuke Aoki3State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaEarthquake Research Institute The University of Tokyo Tokyo JapanAbstract The moment‐duration (M0‐T) scaling law reveals fundamental earthquake physics across various sizes and tectonic settings. However, the validity of the cubic relation (M0 ∝ T3) inferred for large (Mw ≥ 7) megathrust events has been recently questioned due to the scarcity of observations and similarities to slow earthquakes. Here, by compiling events over the past 500 years from global subduction zones, we double the number of earthquakes studied (>260) compared to previous studies. A possible scale change is observed, at moment‐magnitude and duration of ∼7.6 and ∼38.1 s, respectively. The new catalog reveals an accelerated decrease of the scaling exponent as a function of magnitude from 2.5 (Mw ≥ 7) to below 1 (Mw > 8.7), indicating increasingly longer durations than expected for larger events. The rapid increase in duration with earthquake size is interpreted as the interplay of seismogenic bounds, trench‐breaching, and subevents, which delays lateral rupture propagation. Our study aids in understanding slow and fast earthquakes.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112985megathrust earthquakescaling lawsslow and fast earthquakes |
| spellingShingle | Yumin Cui Shaoyang Li Ling Chen Yosuke Aoki Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected Geophysical Research Letters megathrust earthquake scaling laws slow and fast earthquakes |
| title | Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected |
| title_full | Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected |
| title_fullStr | Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected |
| title_full_unstemmed | Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected |
| title_short | Large Megathrust Earthquakes Tend to Sustain an Increasingly Longer Duration Than Expected |
| title_sort | large megathrust earthquakes tend to sustain an increasingly longer duration than expected |
| topic | megathrust earthquake scaling laws slow and fast earthquakes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112985 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yumincui largemegathrustearthquakestendtosustainanincreasinglylongerdurationthanexpected AT shaoyangli largemegathrustearthquakestendtosustainanincreasinglylongerdurationthanexpected AT lingchen largemegathrustearthquakestendtosustainanincreasinglylongerdurationthanexpected AT yosukeaoki largemegathrustearthquakestendtosustainanincreasinglylongerdurationthanexpected |