AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

Interactions between two subducting plates under Tokyo

Japan's Tokyo region has been hit by disastrous earthquakes throughout recorded history. Noting that underneath Tokyo, the Eurasian, Philippine Sea, and Pacific plates meet, Wu et al. (2007) sought to identify how interactions between these three plates influence regional seismic hazards. Previous studies have shown that the Philippine Sea plate subducts to the north on top of the westward subducting Pacific plate. Building on this, the authors conducted high-resolution studies of the region underneath Kanto using tomographic techniques, an imaging method similar to medical CT scans. They found that as the Pacific plate shoals under Japan, the Philippine Sea plate is being forced into an increasingly tighter space between the Pacific and Eurasian plates. As a result, zones of enhanced seismicity appear not only under the top and bottom of the Philippine Sea plate where it contacts the Eurasian and Pacific plates but also within the Philippine Sea wedge that is being squeezed. The authors indicated that knowledge of such seismic interactions under Tokyo can help explain unique hazards faced by the city.

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