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Continuous GPS observations, for over two years, detected long-term postseismic deformation after the 2008 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake (Mj 7.2). The displacement field exhibits ESE-WNW shortening and subsidence near the focal area. These features are attributed to a viscoelastic relaxation caused by the mainshock. A simple two-layered structural model, which consists of an elastic layer having a thickness of 19.0–23.5 km and an underlying Maxwell viscoelastic layer having a viscosity of 2.4–4.8 × 1018 Pa s, explains the far-field deformation pattern, which probably reflects the viscoelastic response exclusively. These estimated parameters are consistent with the deeper limit of the seismogenic layer in the upper crust and the previous rheological model in northeastern Japan. However, near-field deformation requires additional sources in order to reproduce the observed postseismic deformation, such as long-term afterslip and/or a complicated response due to the highly heterogeneous structure suggested by seismic tomography studies.

We investigated the crustal deformation associated with the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake (M 9.0) that occurred on March 11, 2011, along the plate boundary off Tohoku district, northeastern Japan, based on dense GPS observation. Coseismic displacements due to this event were applied to estimate the causal interplate slip by means of a geodetic inversion analysis. The major slip area is located around the asperities of the 1981 Miyagi-oki (M 7.2) and 2003 Fukushima-oki (M 6.8) earthquakes and the maximum slip is estimated as being up to 35 m. The estimated slip distribution suggests that the asperities of the Miyagi-oki earthquake in 1978 (M 7.4) that had not been ruptured during the Miyagi-oki earthquake in 2005 were ruptured as a part of the main shock fault of the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake.

We propose a source fault model for the 2011, April 7, earthquake (M 7.1) deduced from a dense GPS network. The coseismic displacements obtained by GPS data analysis clearly show the spatial pattern specific to intraslab earthquakes, not only in the horizontal components but also the vertical ones. A rectangular fault with uniform slip was estimated by a non-linear inversion approach. The results indicate that the simple rectangular fault model can explain the overall features of the observations. The amount of moment released is equivalent to Mw 7.17. The hypocenter depth of the main shock estimated by the Japan Meteorological Agency is slightly deeper than the neutral plane between down-dip compression (DC) and down-dip extension (DE) stress zones of the double-planed seismic zone. This suggests that the depth of the neutral plane was deepened by the huge slip of the 2011, M 9.0, Tohoku Earthquake, and the rupture of the thrust M 7.1 earthquake was initiated at that depth, although more investigations are required to confirm this idea. The estimated fault plane has an angle of ∼60 degrees from the surface of the subducting Pacific plate. It is consistent with the hypothesis that intraslab earthquakes are thought to be a reactivation of the pre-existing hydrated weak zones produced in the bending process of oceanic plates around outer-rise regions.