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We aim to better understand the overriding plate deformation during the megathrust earthquake cycle. We estimate the spatial patterns of interseismic GNSS velocities in South America, Southeast Asia, and northern Japan and the associated uncertainties due to data gaps and velocity uncertainties. The interseismic velocities with respect to the overriding plate generally decrease with distance from the trench with a steep gradient up to a "hurdle", beyond which the gradient is distinctly lower and velocities are small. The hurdle is located 500-1000 km away from the trench, for the trench-perpendicular velocity component, and either at the same distance or closer for the trench-parallel component. Significant coseismic displacements were observed beyond these hurdles during the 2010 Maule, 2004 Sumatra-Andaman, and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes. We hypothesize that

Geodetic observations after large subduction earthquakes reflect multiple postseismic processes, including megathrust relocking. The timing of relocking and the observational constraints on it are unclear. Relocking was inferred to explain some observed landward motion that occurs within months. It was also considered unable to explain other, greater landward motion, including that off the coast of Japan beginning weeks after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, attributed to postseismic relaxation. We use generic, 3D numerical models to show that relocking, particularly of the shallow interface, is needed for postseismic relaxation to produce landward motion on the tip of the overriding plate. We argue that this finding is consistent with previous simulations that implicitly relock the megathrust where afterslip is not included. We conclude that the Tohoku megathrust relocked within less than 2 months of the earthquake. This suggests that the shallow megathrust probably behaves as a true, unstably sliding asperity.

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Geodetic observations after large subduction earthquakes reflect multiple postseismic processes, including megathrust relocking. What the timing of relocking is, and how well observations constrain it, is unclear. It has been inferred to explain some observed landward motion that occurs within months. It has also been considered unable to explain other, greater landward motion, including off the coast of Japan beginning weeks after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, which is attributed to postseismic relaxation. We use generic, 3D numerical models to show that relocking, particularly of the shallow interface, is needed for postseismic relaxation to produce landward motion on the tip of the overriding plate. We argue that this finding is consistent with previous simulations that implicitly relock the megathrust where afterslip is not included, that the Tohoku megathrust thus relocked within less than two months of the earthquake, and that the shallow megathrust probably behaves as a true, unstably sliding asperity.

We aim to better understand the overriding plate deformation during the megathrust earthquake cycle. We estimate the spatial patterns of interseismic GNSS velocities in South America, Southeast Asia, and northern Japan and the associated uncertainties due to data gaps and velocity uncertainties. The interseismic velocities with respect to the overriding plate generally decrease with distance from the trench with a steep gradient up to a "hurdle", beyond which the gradient is distinctly lower and velocities are small. The hurdle is located 500-1000 km away from the trench, for the trench-perpendicular velocity component, and either at the same distance or closer for the trench-parallel component. Significant coseismic displacements were observed beyond these hurdles during the 2010 Maule, 2004 Sumatra-Andaman, and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes. We hypothesize that

We aim to better understand the overriding plate deformation during the megathrust earthquake cycle. We estimate the spatial patterns of interseismic GNSS velocities in South America, Southeast Asia and nor ther n Japan and the associated uncertainties due to variations in network density and observation uncertainties. Interseismic velocities with respect to the overriding plate generally decrease with distance from the trench with a steep gradient up to a 'hurdle', bey ond w hich the gradient is distinctly lower and velocities are small. The hurdle is located 500-1000 km away from the trench for the trench-perpendicular velocity component, and either at the same distance or closer for the trench-parallel component. Significant coseismic displacements were observ ed be yond these hurdles during the 2010 Maule, 2004 Sumatra-Andaman, and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes. We hypothesize that both the interseismic hurdle and the coseismic response result from a mechanical contrast in the overriding plate. We test our h ypothesis using ph ysically consistent, generic, 3-D finite element models of the earthquake cycle. Our models show a response similar to the interseismic and coseismic observations for a compliant near-trench overriding plate and an at least five times stiffer overriding plate beyond the contrast. The model results suggest that hurdles are more prominently expressed in observations near strongly locked megathrusts. Previous studies inferred major tectonic or geological boundaries and seismological contrasts located close to the observed hurdles in the studied overriding plates. The compliance contrast probably results from thermal, compositional and thickness contrasts and might cause the observed focusing of smaller-scale deformation like backthrusting.