Volcanic Front and Intermediate-Depth Seismicity (The Second Report) : Kanto and Hokkaido Regions

Abstract

We investigated how the intermediate-depth seismicity changes with depth in the Pacific slab beneath Hokhaido and the Kanto district using JMA data since Oct. 1997. We found that seismicity in the upper seismic plane decreases noticeably at about the depth of 100 km and on its deeper side both in Hokkaido and the Kanto district. In Hokkaido the volcanic front is located nearly above the line where the seismicity in the upper seismic plane starts to decrease (the D line). This feature is the same as that seen in the Tohoku district (Hosono and Yoshida, 200la). In the Kanto region, however, the D line is located several tens km to the east of the volcanic front, the cause of which may be attributed to the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate above the Pacific plate. We think the noticeable decrease of seismicity in the upper seismic plane at about the depth of 100 km which is commonly observed in the Pacific slab beneath Japan and the correspondence between the location of the D Iine and the volcanic front in Hokkaido and the Tohoku district indicate that the decrease of seismicity in the upper seismic plane may be related to the genetic process of magmatic bodies in the subduction zone.