4.1 Validation of results and differences from results obtained from InSAR data
The slip distributions obtained from the waveforms differ in detail from those obtained from the InSAR data. Therefore, the inversion analysis and resultant slip distributions should be verified before discussing the process underlying the recurrence. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the cause of the different slip distributions obtained from the waveforms and the InSAR data.
To confirm the complementary asperity distributions for the 2011 and 2016 events, we compared the waveforms for these events directly. The waveforms for the two events at the IBRH13 station, which is located just above the fault surface (Fig. 1), are shown in Figure S6. The waveforms recorded at this station during the two events have different characteristics. Specifically, the maximum amplitude of the north–south (NS) component is larger than the east–west (EW) component for the 2011 event, whereas the opposite is true for the 2016 event. This means that the arrival directions from the main slips are different if the fault mechanisms are almost the same. This is consistent with the waveform inversion results, which indicate that the co-seismic asperities follow different directions from IBRH13.
Next, we discuss the disparity of the seismic moments in the results obtained from the waveforms and the InSAR data. We calculated surface deformations assuming the slip distributions obtained by waveform inversions (Fig. 3). These deformations were calculated assuming a homogeneous half-space (Okada 1992). The calculated patterns are similar to the observed InSAR images (Fukushima et al. 2018). However, the average deformation for the 2011 event is smaller than that for the 2016 event in the calculated distributions, whereas the opposite is true in the observed InSAR data. To compare these results with the actual co-seismic deformations, we estimated the permanent displacements by taking the double integral of the accelerograms at the IBRH13 station (Figure A7). The derived co-seismic displacement for the 2011 event, which is 2.5 cm to the south, 0.45 cm to the east, and 8.6 cm downward, is smaller than that for the 2016 event, which is 3.8 cm to the south, 0.74 cm to the east, and 6.7 cm downward. These displacements are almost consistent with that calculated from the derived co-seismic fault slip distributions (Fig. 3). From this discussion, the slip distribution obtained in this study is reasonable for co-seismic slip, whereas the 2011 slip distribution determined from the InSAR data also includes a considerable amount of early afterslips immediately following the main shock.
Although the slip distribution estimated from the InSAR data includes the effect of afterslip, it is true that the main slip for the 2016 event overlaps with the slip distribution near the time of the 2011 event. However, when the afterslip is equal to or larger than the main shock that occurred at the time of the 2011 event, it is possible that the geodetic data may not be detected due to insufficient resolution, even if part of the fault plane remains locked. Therefore, based on the co-seismic slip distribution of the 2011 event, we made a hypothetical model in which the total seismic moment was more than doubled without changing the slips at the asperities for the 2011 and 2016 events and calculated the surface deformation (Figure A8). The results confirm that the synthetic crustal deformation was similar to the pattern for the 2011 event, and the distinct deformation pattern associated with the slip deficit at the asperity for the 2016 event was not recognized. Namely, the possibility that the portion that would be the asperity for the 2016 event had remained locked even after the 2011 event is not ruled out by the InSAR data.
4.2 Rupture scenario from the 2011 event to the 2016 event
The rupture histories for each event are shown in Fig. 4 to elucidate the co-seismic slip for these events and to discuss corresponding scenarios for the 2011 to 2016 events. The plots in Fig. 4 show snapshots of the slip velocity in intervals of 1 s. These snapshots show that the two events have somewhat different time histories. Namely, the 2011 event slipped primarily near its hypocenter with a relatively high speed. In contrast, during the 2016 event, the rupture began at the southern hypocenter, propagated slowly toward the north, and finally ruptured the asperity, located at the northern edge of the southern fault. Therefore, in simple terms, the 2011 event ruptured more rapidly than did the 2016 event.
Considering these slip histories, we hypothesize that the relationship between the 2011 and 2016 events is as follows. The 2011 event occurred as an ordinary earthquake and slipped largely near the hypocenter. However, the adjacent area across the bend did not slip at that time. After that, the area remained locked until the 2016 event. At the time of the 2016 event, the rupture started at a distance from its asperity, and rupture propagation or seismic waves excited the locked area, which thus became a large slip area. The propagation speed appeared to be slow because the asperity slipped as if induced. It may be possible that the large afterslip for the 2011 event and the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake might have caused stress to accumulate around the source area, as suggested by the crustal deformation analysis (Fukushima et al. 2018), although it is not the same area as the 2011 event.
Finally, we would like to consider why the asperity for the 2016 earthquake did not rupture during the 2011 event. Of course, it is possible that the stress accumulation at the asperity for the 2016 event was insufficient to slip at the time of the 2011 event. In addition, it is possible that the fault geometry—specifically, the bending between the asperities—may have contributed to the co-seismic slip. Figure A9 shows the Coulomb failure stress (ΔCFF) calculated on the southern fault, assuming the slip distribution on the northern fault for the 2011 event. The negative value is calculated at the northern edge of the southern fault, and it shows that the slip was suppressed near the southern area of the bending zone. Although this calculation is simplified and contains many uncertainties, the bending of a fault tends to inhibit rupture (e.g., Kame and Yamashita 1999; Biasi and Wesnousky 2017). On the other hand, at the time of the 2016 event, the asperity was likely easily ruptured because the hypocenter and the asperity were on the same plane.
Because of the bending of the fault, this sequence of seismic activity—namely, the halting of the initial rupture being followed by a rupture from another hypocenter in the place where large slip did not initially occur—has been observed in the past, e.g., in the 2003 northern Miyagi earthquakes (Hikima and Kokesu 2004). Earlier reported examples have also shown that changes in stress caused by earlier earthquakes induce moderate-scale earthquakes (e.g., Hikima and Koketsu 2005). Therefore, the 2011 and 2016 events in northern Ibaraki Prefecture can be considered a case where fault geometry plays a role in recurrence, although the interval is not so short (approximately 5.8 years).