Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia

Abstract In Cascadia, the concomitance of slow slip events (SSE) and tremors during Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) episodes is well documented. Brittle tremor patches embedded in the ductile matrix deforming aseismically is the most common concept for the fault structure, but whether tremors and the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yuji Itoh, Anne Socquet, Mathilde Radiguet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:AGU Advances
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001425
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850279304373469184
author Yuji Itoh
Anne Socquet
Mathilde Radiguet
author_facet Yuji Itoh
Anne Socquet
Mathilde Radiguet
author_sort Yuji Itoh
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In Cascadia, the concomitance of slow slip events (SSE) and tremors during Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) episodes is well documented. Brittle tremor patches embedded in the ductile matrix deforming aseismically is the most common concept for the fault structure, but whether tremors and their patches impact the SSE initiation is under debate. This study focuses on 13 initiations of major Cascadia ETS. Limited observational constraints exist on the details of ETS initiation because spatiotemporal SSE inversions usually over‐smooth their temporal evolution. Scrutinizing tremors and SSE at the beginning of major ETS events gives us insights into their mechanical relationship. We directly retrieve the temporal evolution of the SSE moment by stacking sub‐daily Global Positioning System (GPS) time series at multiple sites, without slip inversions. Comparison of the GPS stack with tremor count demonstrates that SSE moment release accelerates drastically ∼1 day after the onset of vigorous tremor activity. On the other hand, once the SSE moment release accelerates, the tremor area expands more rapidly, suggesting that the growth of the ETS occurs through a feedback mechanism between slip and tremor once the SSE is well developed. By combining these and previous observations, we propose a conceptual model of ETS initiation: heterogeneous interface strength limits the growth of SSE with unruptured tremor patches acting as relatively high‐strength pins contributing to this heterogeneity. In other words, major ETS emerges probably only when collective tremor patches are critically stressed.
format Article
id doaj-art-e098d049f5994789a92f3475deb66b0c
institution OA Journals
issn 2576-604X
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series AGU Advances
spelling doaj-art-e098d049f5994789a92f3475deb66b0c2025-08-20T01:49:07ZengWileyAGU Advances2576-604X2025-04-0162n/an/a10.1029/2024AV001425Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in CascadiaYuji Itoh0Anne Socquet1Mathilde Radiguet2Earthquake Research Institute The University of Tokyo Tokyo JapanUniversity Grenoble Alpes University Savoie Mont Blanc CNRS IRD University Gustave Eiffel Grenoble FranceUniversity Grenoble Alpes University Savoie Mont Blanc CNRS IRD University Gustave Eiffel Grenoble FranceAbstract In Cascadia, the concomitance of slow slip events (SSE) and tremors during Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) episodes is well documented. Brittle tremor patches embedded in the ductile matrix deforming aseismically is the most common concept for the fault structure, but whether tremors and their patches impact the SSE initiation is under debate. This study focuses on 13 initiations of major Cascadia ETS. Limited observational constraints exist on the details of ETS initiation because spatiotemporal SSE inversions usually over‐smooth their temporal evolution. Scrutinizing tremors and SSE at the beginning of major ETS events gives us insights into their mechanical relationship. We directly retrieve the temporal evolution of the SSE moment by stacking sub‐daily Global Positioning System (GPS) time series at multiple sites, without slip inversions. Comparison of the GPS stack with tremor count demonstrates that SSE moment release accelerates drastically ∼1 day after the onset of vigorous tremor activity. On the other hand, once the SSE moment release accelerates, the tremor area expands more rapidly, suggesting that the growth of the ETS occurs through a feedback mechanism between slip and tremor once the SSE is well developed. By combining these and previous observations, we propose a conceptual model of ETS initiation: heterogeneous interface strength limits the growth of SSE with unruptured tremor patches acting as relatively high‐strength pins contributing to this heterogeneity. In other words, major ETS emerges probably only when collective tremor patches are critically stressed.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001425Episodic Tremor and Slipslow slip eventtremorCascadiaGNSS
spellingShingle Yuji Itoh
Anne Socquet
Mathilde Radiguet
Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia
AGU Advances
Episodic Tremor and Slip
slow slip event
tremor
Cascadia
GNSS
title Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia
title_full Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia
title_fullStr Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia
title_full_unstemmed Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia
title_short Slip‐Tremor Interaction at the Very Beginning of Episodic Tremor and Slip in Cascadia
title_sort slip tremor interaction at the very beginning of episodic tremor and slip in cascadia
topic Episodic Tremor and Slip
slow slip event
tremor
Cascadia
GNSS
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001425
work_keys_str_mv AT yujiitoh sliptremorinteractionattheverybeginningofepisodictremorandslipincascadia
AT annesocquet sliptremorinteractionattheverybeginningofepisodictremorandslipincascadia
AT mathilderadiguet sliptremorinteractionattheverybeginningofepisodictremorandslipincascadia