Slow transient slip that releases stress along the deep roots of plate interfaces is most often observed on regional GPS networks installed at the surface. The detection of slow slip is not trivial if the dislocation along the fault at depth does not generate a geodetic signal greater than the observational noise level. Instead of the typical workflow of comparing independently gathered seismic and geodetic observations to study slow slip, we use repeating low‐frequency earthquakes to reveal a previously unobserved slow slip event. By aligning GPS time series with episodes of low‐frequency earthquake activity and stacking, we identify a repeating transient slip event that generates a displacement at the surface that is hidden under noise prior to stacking. Our results suggest that the geodetic investigation of transient slip guided by seismological information is essential in exploring the spectrum of fault slip.

Constellations of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites with short repeat time acquisitions allow exploration of active faults behavior with unprecedented temporal resolution. Along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in Turkey, an 80 km long section has been creeping at least since the 1944, Mw 7.3 earthquake near Ismetpasa, with a current Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)‐derived average creep rate of 8 ± 3 mm/yr (i.e., a third of the NAF long‐term slip rate). We use a dense set of SAR images acquired by the COSMO‐SkyMed constellation to quantify the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of creep over 1 year. We identify a major burst of aseismic slip spanning 31 days with a maximum slip of 2 cm, between the surface and 4 km depth. This result shows that fault creep along this section of the NAF does not occur at a steady rate as previously thought, highlighting a need to revise our understanding of the underlying fault mechanics.

Measurement of interseismic strain along subduction zones reveals the location of both locked asperities, which might rupture during megathrust earthquakes, and creeping zones, which tend to arrest such seismic ruptures. The heterogeneous pattern of interseismic coupling presumably relates to spatial variations of frictional properties along the subduction interface and may also show up in the fore‐arc morphology. To investigate this hypothesis, we compiled information on the extent of earthquake ruptures for the last 500 years and uplift rates derived from dated marine terraces along the South American coastline from central Peru to southern Chile. We additionally calculated a new interseismic coupling model for that same area based on a compilation of GPS data. We show that the coastline geometry, characterized by the distance between the coast and the trench; the latitudinal variations of long‐term uplift rates; and the spatial pattern of interseismic coupling are correlated. Zones of faster and long‐term permanent coastal uplift, evidenced by uplifted marine terraces, coincide with peninsulas and also with areas of creep on the megathrust where slip is mostly aseismic and tend to arrest seismic ruptures. We conclude that spatial variations of frictional properties along the megathrust dictate the tectono‐geomorphological evolution of the coastal zone and the extent of seismic ruptures along strike.

A slow slip event is a cluster of small aseismic slip transients intermittently interrupted by relocking of the plate interface.

By analyzing GPS time series, we have detected an averaged Mw 4.9 slow slip event in the roots of the San Andreas fault.

No abstract

, the Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake ruptured a segment of the Chelungpu Fault, a frontal thrust fault of the Western Foothills of Taiwan. The stress perturbation induced by the rupture triggered a transient deformation across the island, which was well recorded by a wide network of continuously operating GPS stations. The analysis of more than ten years of these data reveals a heterogeneous pattern of postseismic displacements, with relaxation times varying by a factor of more than ten, and large cumulative displacements at great distances, in particular along the Longitudinal Valley in eastern Taiwan, where relaxation times are also longer. We show that while afterslip is the dominant relaxation process in the epicentral area, viscoelastic relaxation is needed to explain the pattern and time evolution of displacements at the larger scale. We model the spatiotemporal behavior of the transient deformation as the result of afterslip on the décollement that extends downdip of the Chelungpu thrust, and viscoelastic flow in the lower crust and in the mid-crust below the Central Range. We construct a model of deformation driven by coseismic stress change where afterslip and viscoelastic flow are fully coupled. The model is compatible with the shorter relaxation times observed in the near field, which are due to continued fault slip, and the longer characteristic relaxation times and the reversed polarity of vertical displacements observed east of the Central Range. Our preferred model shows a viscosity of 0.5-1 Â 1019 Pa s at lower-crustal depths and 5 Â 10 17 Pa s in the mid-crust below the Central Range, between 10 and 30 km depth. The low-viscosity zone at mid-crustal depth below the Central Range coincides with a region of low seismicity where rapid advection of heat due to surface erosion coupled with underplating maintain high temperatures, estimated to be between 300 C and 600 C from the modeling of thermo-chronology and surface heat flow data.

No abstract