Small interplate coupling in the Tokai area

Heki, K. and S. Miyazaki, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 2313-2316, 2001.

The North American (green part) and the Amurian Plates (red part) collide with each other in Central Japan (left panel). The northernmost part of the Philippine Sea Plate behaves separately as the Izu microplate. These two factors significantly reduce the subduction rate at the easternmost segment of the Nankai-Suruga Trough, making the recurrence interval of the Tokai segment rupture longer than other parts (right panel).