Complex characteristics of slow slip events in subduction zones reproduced in multi-cycle simulations

Abstract

[1] Since the discovery of slow slip events along subduction zone interfaces worldwide, dense geodetic and seismic networks have illuminated detailed characteristics of these events and associated tremor. High‐resolution observations of tremor, where the spatial‐temporal evolution is presumed to reflect that of the underlying slow slip events, show highly complex patterns in which the origins remain poorly understood. We present a new, computationally efficient modeling technique that reproduces many features of observed slow slip events, including slow initiation, coalescence of separate events, and rapid back‐propagation of renewed slip over previously slipped regions. Rapid back propagation speeds are explained as a consequence of rate‐ and state‐dependent frictional healing, consistent with analytical solutions developed in support of the simulations.