Slow earthquakes as rockbursts: evidence from subsurface rock pressure-stress accumulation and release modeling and time-domain seismic wave decomposition

Slow earthquakes as rockbursts: evidence from subsurface rock pressure-stress accumulation and release modeling and time-domain seismic wave decomposition | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Slow earthquakes as rockbursts: evidence from subsurface rock pressure-stress accumulation and release modeling and time-domain seismic wave decomposition Zonglu He, Takamitsu Oka This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4598503/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The sensitivity of slow earthquakes to weak tidal stress perturbations suggests that weak external perturbations may be involved in inducing slow earthquakes. Here, we model subsurface rock pressure-stress accumulation and release, suggesting that repetitive pulses of intermittent rockburst energy from moderately divergent Brownian motion resulting from the accumulation of pore pressures and stresses can lead to slow-slip pulsed ruptures and episodic tremors. Sustained weak external perturbations through fault zones/subducted slabs can lead to internal pressure stress accumulation in specific rocks, which is the key to repetitive rockbursts. To validate this theoretical derivation, we developed a time-domain seismic wave decomposition method to extract seismic radiant energy and other components from seismic waves by simulating seismic wave propagation, which is impossible with existing methods. The data of Japan's strong earthquakes from 2001-2021 show that the preseismic events are consistent with the main characteristics of slow earthquakes and that there is a significant positive/negative correlation between seismic peak energy and preseismic moments/subduction periods, which supports the theoretical derivation. The energy pulses emitted by rockbursts show a diurnal cycle consisting of two semidiurnal cycles, which provides evidence that tidal semidiurnal cycles, diurnal temperature differences, diurnal geomagnetic variations, and intermittent dehydrating fluids induce slow earthquakes. Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences/Geodynamics Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Applied mathematics Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computational science Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Scientific data Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Statistics Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4598503","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":322482893,"identity":"012ffa05-e379-4cf7-8a38-740e0976fa9d","order_by":0,"name":"Zonglu He","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAqUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAx4GxseMDVAOsVqYjUnWwiYN00IcMOc5/Ky6cEctA3/7AYbiAmK0WPa2md2eeeY4g8SZBAbjGUQ57DyD2W3etmMMDDcYGIx5iNPC/q0YpEWeeC1ne8yYedtqGAyI13LmTLE075kDPIZnEhuI9MuZ9I2feXfUyckdP3zMmKgQg4LDQCcxthmToIOhDkQwPyZFyygYBaNgFIwcAAB2wy9RXhYnpQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zonglu","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":322482894,"identity":"6081ac4d-c810-43a5-a5e1-fc03deb91355","order_by":1,"name":"Takamitsu Oka","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Takamitsu","middleName":"","lastName":"Oka","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-06-18 08:30:34","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4598503/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4598503/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":69228523,"identity":"55dd786f-ad6f-44b5-969e-1dabe5a41002","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-18 08:25:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3073953,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"sr2024061852.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4598503/v1_covered_b2b7372d-6dce-414b-a104-735e70944ace.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Slow earthquakes as rockbursts: evidence from subsurface rock pressure-stress accumulation and release modeling and time-domain seismic wave decomposition","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4598503/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4598503/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The sensitivity of slow earthquakes to weak tidal stress perturbations suggests that weak external perturbations may be involved in inducing slow earthquakes. 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The data of Japan's strong earthquakes from 2001-2021 show that the preseismic events are consistent with the main characteristics of slow earthquakes and that there is a significant positive/negative correlation between seismic peak energy and preseismic moments/subduction periods, which supports the theoretical derivation. 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