Abstract
The 2011 Tohoku earthquake (2011/03/11 05:46:18 UT, M W 9.0) produced huge permanent displacements of up to 50 m and dynamic strain of up to 10−5 in the near-field. We observed dynamic strain (10−7) produced by this earthquake at a depth of 1 km in a gold mine in the Republic of South Africa at a distance of more than 14,000 km (125.25∘) from epicenter. The dynamic strain was observed by two Ishii-type borehole strainmeters about 30 m apart on opposite sides of a fault filled with gouge of several decimeters thickness, allowing the response of the fault to be investigated. The Tohoku earthquake seismic waves passed through the gold mine outside blasting hours, allowing us to analyze the tele-seismic body waves and the surface waves that circled the globe several times (R 3 − R 5 and G 3 − G 5, \(\sim 10^{-8}\)). We discuss the fault deformation associated with the dynamic strains by the wave packets. The seismograms of some sub-parallel components of the two strainmeters installed on the opposite sides of the fault appeared similar, although with differences on the order of \(\sim 10^{-8}\). These differences may imply a complex response of the fault (fault rheology; i.e. not only elastic, but perhaps plastic or even indicating the effects of fluid).
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Acknowledgements
We want to thank Gilbert Morema, Thabang Masakale, Sylvester Morema, and Luiz Ribeiro for their great efforts in installing and maintaining the monitoring equipment. This study was supported by the JSPS Grant-in-aid (No. 21224012) and JST-JICA SATREPS program. This manuscript was greatly improved by the careful reviews and appropriate comments of reviewers and editors.
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Okubo, M., Ogasawara, H., Nakao, S., Murakami, O., Ishii, H., Ward, A.K. (2015). Dynamic Strain in a South African Gold Mine Produced by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. In: Hashimoto, M. (eds) International Symposium on Geodesy for Earthquake and Natural Hazards (GENAH). International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol 145. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/1345_2015_207
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1345_2015_207
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