“Slow slip events in the Mexican subduction zone and their importance in the seismic cycle”

Speaker: Dr. Mathilde Radiguet, ISTerre, Grenoble, France

Abstract

Active faults in the Earth build up tectonic stress during the interseismic period and release it in brutal earthquakes via rapid seismic slip. Improvements in earth observations over the last two decades revealed that slow, mostly aseismic slip events also occur in various parts of the world and more particularly in subduction zones, and plays a major role in the seismic cycle. In this talk, I will present an overview of recent results of slow slip events studies along the Mexican subduction zone, based on geodetic (GNSS and InSAR) and seismic (tectonic tremors) observations. I will show how slow slip occurrence impacts the stress build up along this subduction zone, by releasing part of tectonic stress accumulated during the interseismic period. I will also show how evidences of earthquakes triggered by ongoing slow slip, revealing that slow and fast modes of slip can interact. Finally, I will discuss how combining seismic and geodetic observations can help to constrain the slow slip dynamics over short time scales, and reveal the occurrence of short durations slow slip events.