The 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake: Comparison of GPS and Strong-Motion Data

Near-field ground-motion data are available in semi-real time either from modern strong-motion or continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) networks, allowing robust solutions for earthquake source parameters, which are useful for rapid disaster assessment and early warning. These wide applications require the ground-motion data to cover a very broad frequency band that, however, is usually not available. This paper presents a case study on the 2011 M-w 9.0 Tohoku earthquake, showing how the ground-motion information from geodetic and seismic instrumentations is complementary, and suggesting the joint use of both types of data, particularly when the network coverage is sparse. First the strong-motion records from the two Japanese networks, K-NET and KiK-Net, are analyzed using an automatic empirical baseline correction tool. The static coseismic displacement data are obtained by double integration and then used to derive the permanent slip distribution on the earthquake fault. Comparisons with the corresponding GPS-based solutions yield a quantitative estimation of uncertainties of the empirical baseline correction. Furthermore, a dozen nearby GPS and strong-motion station pairs are selected to demonstrate that the information in their time series agrees with each other. Finally, methods for combining both types of ground-motion observation systems are discussed, and the wide applicability of this approach is highlighted.