Earth Planets Space, 61,345356,2013

Resistivity and density modelling in the 1938 Kutcharo earthquake

source area
along a large caldera boundary
HiroshiIchihara,ToruMogi,HideakiHase,TomonoriWatanabe,andYusukeYamaya
Institute of Seismology and Volcanology, Hokkaido University, N10W8 Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan
(ReceivedApril5,2012;RevisedOctober11,2012;AcceptedOctober14,2012;OnlinepublishedMarch3,2013)

Abstract
Wepresentthecrustalstructurearoundthefaultzonepertainingtothe1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0),
northernJapan,toconsiderwhylargeearthquakeshaveoccurredaroundcalderas.Thestudywasbasedongravity
anomaliesandmagnetotelluricanddirectcurrent(DC)electricalresistivitysurveydata.Thedensitystructure
obtainedfromgravityanomaliesindicatedthatthefaultplanecorrespondedtothemaindepressionboundaryof
theKutcharocaldera.Theresistivitysection,basedonaudiofrequencymagnetotelluricsurveys,indicatedthat
theestimatedfaultplanewaslocatedalongtheboundaryofresistivityblocks,whichalsocorrespondedtothe
depressionboundary.AdetailedresistivitysectionintherupturedzonerevealedbyaDCelectricalresistivity
surveyshowedadiscontinuityoflayers,implyingcumulativefaultdisplacements.Theseresultsindicatethatthe
1938earthquakewasanabruptslipalongthemaindepressionboundaryoftheKutcharocaldera.Themostlikely
hypothesispertainstouidintrusionalongthedepressionboundary.However,additionalseismicandgeodetic
studiesarerequiredtoidentifyotherfeasibleearthquakemechanisms.
Key words:Magnetotellurics,gravityanomaly,DCelectricalresistivitysurvey,inlandearthquake,Kutcharo
caldera.
1. Introduction
Largeearthquakeevents( M >5)haveoftenbeenre
portedaroundlargevolcaniccalderas,suchastheLong
ValleycalderaintheUnitedStates(e.g.,Hill et al.,2003;
Prejean et al.,2003),theOnikobecalderainnortheastern
Japan(Umino et al.,1998),andtheRabaulcalderainPapua
NewGuinea(MoriandMcKee,1987).Severalstudieshave
identiedpossiblemechanismsfortheoccurrenceofearth
quakesaroundlargecalderas.Forexample,Umino et al.
(1998)suggestedthat M5.7and M5.9earthquakesatthe
Onikobecalderain1996werefaultslipearthquakes,which
mighthaveoccurredalongstructuraldiscontinuitiesaround
thecalderaboundary.Becausemanyinlandearthquakesoc
curringintheuppercrusthavebeenconsideredabruptslips
withinlargediscontinuouszones(e.g.,Jackson,1980;Kato
et al.,2006),thelargestructuralboundariesalongcalderas
mayalsobeimportantfactorsfortheoccurrenceofearth
quakes,suggestingthatthecalderastructureaffectstheoc
currenceoflargeinlandearthquakes.However,thedetailed
relationshipbetweencalderastructuresandfaultactivity
hasnotyetbeenclaried.
Volcanicactivitymaybeassociatedwiththeoccurrence
oflargeearthquakesaroundcalderasashasbeensuggested
fortheLongValleycaldera(e.g.,Julian,1983;Savageand
Cockerham,1984;Prejean et al.,2003).Forexample,Ju
Presentaddress:EarthquakeResearchInstitute,theUniversityof
Tokyo,111Yayoi,Bunkyoku,Tokyo1130032,Japan.
CopyrightcTheSocietyofGeomagnetismandEarth,PlanetaryandSpaceSci
ences(SGEPSS);TheSeismologicalSocietyofJapan;TheVolcanologicalSociety
ofJapan;TheGeodeticSocietyofJapan;TheJapaneseSocietyforPlanetarySci
ences;TERRAPUB.

lian(1983)indicatedthatseveralearthquakesin1980were
causedbyuidinjectionintodykesthroughamechanism
explainedbythecompensatedlinearvectordipolemodel.
SavageandCockerham(1984)suggestedthatdykeination
generatedtensionacrosstheverticalplanethatbecamethe
rupturedsurfaceoftheearthquakeswarm.Thisreducedthe
frictionalstressontheruptureplaneandperhapstriggered
theslipthatcausedtheswarms.
The1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0)occurredwithin
theKutcharocaldera,whichislocatedintheAkan
ShiretokovolcanicbeltinthesouthwesternKurilearcof
northernJapan(Fig.1(a)).Thisarealieswithinoneofthe
activeinlandearthquakeareasoftheHokkaidodistrict,the
Teshikagaarea,whereeightlargeearthquakes( M >5)
occurredbetween1938and1972(Fig.1(b)).The1938
earthquakeformednumerousrupturezones,mostlystriking
northwesttosoutheast(Fig.1(c)).Basedonthedistribu
tionofsurfaceruptures,theearthquakefaultwasestimated
tobealonganorthwestsoutheaststrikeazimuthbetween
theKushiroRiverandtheWakotoPeninsula(Tanakadate,
1938;Tsuya,1938;Kato,1940;Fig.1(c)).Someofthe
rupturesshowedleftlateralstrikeslipandamaximumdis
placementof2.5m(Tsuya,1938;Fig.1(c)).Verticaldis
placementswerealsoreportedintherupturesandformed
adepressionzoneinthelargestrupturezone(Fig.1(c)).
AccordingtoTsuya(1938),thenortheasternsideofthe
slipontheeasternankofMaruyamasubsidedamaximum
0.8m.Achangeinthelakelevelwasalsoobservedaf
terthe1938earthquakeatthesouthpartoftheKutcharo
caldera.Tanakadate(1938)andKato(1940)reportedsub
sidencealong,andupheaval,atthenortheastsideofthe
1938estimatedfault(Fig.1(c)).Theverticaldeformation
345

346

(a)

H.ICHIHARA et al.:
RESISTIVITYANDDENSITY
STRUCTUREOFTHE1938

KUT
CHA
RO
EAR
THQ
UAK
E

to
z
Akolca

(c)

100km

Lake
Kutcharo
Wakoto
peninsula

te

Pacific

2km
200

Borehole
(TS1)
Borehole
(TS6)

60a
50a

Mt. Atosanupuri
Nakajima
volcano

Maruyama
lava dome

Lake
Mashu

20a
(A20)

400

A30

70a 400

Oputakeshuke
lava dome

55a

Kush

45a
40a

90a

80a

(b)
Lake
Kutcharo

Rishiri
lava dome

Borehole
(TS3)

iro

Riv

er

200

1938 Kutcharo
earthquake (M 6.0)

10a

Altitude (m)

10km

100 300 700 1300

30a

Fig.1.(a)Tectonicsettingaroundthestudyarea.Redtrianglesdenoteactivevolcanoes.(b)Topographyofthestudyarea(redrectangle).Reddashed
lines,KutcharocalderarimafterKatsui(1962);stars,epicentresoftheinlandplateearthquakesthatoccurredbetween1938and1967(Suzukiand
Hirota,1973);redsoliddots,hydrothermalactivity.(c)LocationofMTstationsandrupturezonesofthe1938earthquake(lightbluerectangle).
Greylines,altitude;pinkareas,rupturezones;reddashedline,estimatedfaultofthe1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0;Tanakadate,1938);blueplus,
upheavalareas;blueminus,depressionareas(Kato,1940);Reddots,hydrothermalactivity;circles,widebandMTstations;triangles,AMTstations;
blueline,DCelectricalresistivityimagingsurvey.

43.7

43.65

100
90

43.6

80

TS-1

70

TS-6

43.55

60
50
BougeranmlyG()

TS-3

30

5 km
43.5
144.25

144.3

144.35

144.4

144.45

40

144.5

Fig.2.BougueranomalyaroundKutcharocaldera(assumeddensity,2400kg/m3).Redsquares,gravitystations;pinkline,MTsurveyprole;red
dashedline,estimatedfaultofthe1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0;Tanakadate,1938).

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

(a)
0

-20

347

(b)

TS-3

BougerAnmalyG()

TS-6

unit A-2
TS-1

(2430 kg/m3)

unit A-1

(1660 kg/m3)

1
2
3

unit B (2090 kg/m3)

unit C (2620 kg/m3)

5 km

Fig.3.(a)BougueranomalyalongproleAAinFig.2.Circles,observedgravityanomalyatastationwithin3.0kmoftheprole;solidline,
calculatedgravityanomalyofthenal2Ddensitymodel.(b)Thenal2DdensitymodelalongproleAA.Invertedtriangles,boreholesite
locations;invertedsolidtriangles,surfacegeologicalboundaries;R,rupturezonelocationofthe1938Kutcharoearthquake.

hDep(kmt)

indicatedbythechanginglakelevelseemstocontradictthat
oftherupturedisplacement.Nevertheless,noquaternary
faultactivitieshavebeenidentiedaroundthestudyarea.
Thismaybeduetothethicknessofthepyroclasticows
andtuffscreatedbyvolcaniceventsthatburyevidenceof
faultactivity.
TheactivityaroundtheKutcharocalderaisdividedinto
threestages:theprecaldera,calderaforming,andpost
calderastages(HiroseandNakagawa,1995).Thepre
calderastageactivity(1.80.87Ma)formedsommalavas
betweentherimsoftheKutcharocaldera(HiroseandNak
agawa,1995).Inthecalderaformingstage(0.34Ma
31ka),numerouseruptionscausedpyroclasticowsthat
formedtheKutcharocaldera(e.g.,Katsui,1962;Koshimizu
andIkushima,1989).Postcalderaactivityformedthe
Mt.Atosanupurivolcanoandthelavadomesdenotedin
Fig.1(c),andthisvolcanohasshownrecentactivity.Hy
drothermalactivityhasalsobeenidentied,especiallyon
theeasternsideoftheKutcharocaldera(Fig.1(b)).
Yokoyama(1958)reportedaclearnegativeBouguer
anomalyintheKutcharocaldera,inwhichthegravitywas
about40mGalloweratthecentreofthecalderathanat
therim.Thisimpliesasignicantdensityanomalyaround
theKutcharocaldera.Detailedinvestigationsbydensity
modellingcouldidentifythegeometryofthegeological
boundary,whichmayberelatedtofaultactivity.Therefore,
wemodelledthedensitystructureusingdenselydistributed
gravitydata.Surfacegeologyandboreholedatawereused
asconstraintstoobtainarobustdensitymodel.
Wealsoconductedaudiofrequencymagnetotelluric
(AMT)surveysandmodelledtheelectricalresistivitydis
tribution.Imagingoftheresistivitydistributioniseffec
tiveforestimatinguiddistributionbecauseitdependson

348

porosityaswellasthesalinityandinterconnectivityofthe
uid(e.g.,Archie,1942).Inaddition,resistivityimaging
isparticularlysensitivetoclayminerals,suchasmontmo
rillonite,producedbyalterationbecausetheysignicantly
reduceresistivityofthehostrock(e.g.,Takakura,1995),
anddetectingsuchclaymineralssupportsthepresenceof
hydrothermalactivity(e.g.,Nurhasan et al.,2006).Thus,
resistivityimaginghelpsidentifyuiddistributioninvol
canicareas,whichmayberelatedtotheoccurrenceof
earthquakes,suchastheearthquakeswarmsintheLong
Valleycaldera.Inaddition,resistivityreectsgeological
heterogeneity(e.g.,ParkandWernicke,2003),sowealso
interpretedtheresistivitystructuretoidentifythegeological
structure.
Additionally,weperformedatwodimensional(2D)
directcurrent(DC)electricresistivitysurveywithinthe
rupturedzoneofthe1938fault,whichdetectsverticaldis
placementfromfaultactivitywhenresistiveorconductive
layersaredistributedbeneathfaultzones(e.g.,Suzuki et al.,
2000).Withthisapproach,thehistoricalactivityalongthe
1938fault,whichisnotknown,canpossiblybeclaried.

2. Density Structure
2.1 Bouguer anomaly
WecalculatedtheBougueranomalyaroundtheKutcharo
calderausinggravitydatareportedbyYokoyama(1958),
theJapanGeothermalEnergyDevelopmentCentre(1980),
Ichihara et al.(2006),YamamotoandIshikawa(2004)
andHasegawa et al.(2006).Weassumedthattheden
sityfortheBouguerandtheterraincorrectionswere
2400kg/m3becauseYamamotoandIshikawa(2004)esti
mateda2400130kg/m3optimumsurcialdensitybased
onamethoddevelopedbyMurata(1993)usingAkaikes

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

Table1.SummaryofthelithologyandpetrophysicalpropertiesoftheboreholesdrilledbyNEDO(1985).Thedensityvalueistheaverageofmeasured
coresamplesfromfourboreholesdrilledinthecaldera.The Pwavevelocity(V p)andresistivityarefromthevelocityfoundbyelectricallogging
(100cmnormal)atboreholeTS3.Theresistivityrangeisbasedonstandarddeviationsinlogarithmsoftheresistivity.Calculationswerebasedon
theaverageof V panddensitylistedintheleftcolumns,and0.25wasassumedforPoissonsratio.
U
Alteredandesite
Miocene
nit
Density
C
and
Unit
Lithology
Age
(kg/m3)
pyroclastic
Pumiceand
rocks
1660320
UnitA1
Quaternary
Pyroclastic
2400130
deposits
UnitA2
Quaternary
Andesiticlavas
Pliocene
UnitB
2090280
Tuffand
Quaternary
volcanicbreccias
Middle

2620120

Vp
(km/s)
2.00

2.74

Youngs
module(GPa)

3.88

6.1

BayesianInformationCriterion(ABIC).
TheBougueranomalyshowedasteepgradientaround
the1938estimatedfault(Fig.2).Atthenortheastside
ofthefault,theestimatedanomalywas60mGallower
thanthatatthesouthwestside,andthegravitygradient
exceeded10mGal/kmneartheestimatedfault.Thiscon
siderablegravityvariationindicatedalargedensitycontrast
oradeeplyextendingdensityboundary.Inaddition,the
strikeofthegravitycontourswasparalleltothestrikeofthe
1938estimatedfault.Theseresultsimpliedarelationship
betweenthefaultplaneanddensityheterogeneitycaused
bythecalderaformation.
2.2 Two-dimensional density modelling
Using2Dforwardprocessing(Talwani et al.,1959),we
modelledthedensitystructurealongtheAAproleto
identifythedensitydistributionaroundtherupturedzones
(Fig.2),whichcrosstheestimatedfaultofthe1938earth
quake.TheobservedBougueranomalieswithin3kmfrom
theprolearepresentedinFig.3(a).
Basedonsamplesfromthreeboreholesdrilledtoadepth
greaterthan1kmbytheNewEnergyandIndustrialTech
nologyDevelopmentOrganization(NEDO,1985),thege
ologyoftheKutcharocalderawascategorisedintounits
A1,A2,B,andCinthemodel(Table1).Thegeome
tryoftheboundariesbetweeneachunitwasestimatedin
themodelbyassumingaxeddensitywithineachunit(Ta
ble1).ThreeboreholesdrilledbyNEDOneartheprole
(TS1,TS3andTS6)providedinformationonthedepth
oftheunitboundaries.TheboundarydepthsforunitA1/B
were545,697,and507minboreholesTS3,TS6,andTS
1,respectively.TheboundarydepthsforunitB/Cwere742
and1366minboreholesTS3andTS6,respectively.Unit
A2(Atosamupurisommalava)wasbetweendepthsof416
and610minboreholeTS1.Theseboundarydepthsand
thesurfacegeologicalboundary(MatsunamiandYahata,
1989;Fig.3(b))wereusedasamodelconstraint.
Featuresofthenaldensitymodel(Fig.3(b))andtheir
validityareasfollows:
1)TheboundarydepthbetweenunitsA1andBdidnot
varysignicantlyaroundtherupturezonesofthe1938
earthquake,whichisvalidatedbytheboreholedata
(545,697,and507minboreholesTS3,TS6,and
TS1,respectively).
2)TheboundarydepthbetweenunitsBandCchanged
sharplyaroundboreholeTS6;itwasover3500m

3)

4)

5)

14.1

Resistivity
(ohmm)

1883

32.6

68370

290980

deepatthenortheastsideandapproximately900mat
thesouthwestsideoftherupturezone.BoreholeTS3
limitedthesharpchangeindepth.Ifthedepthofthe
boundarybetweenunitsBandCchangesgradually,
thentheboundarydepthsbetweenA1/BandB/Cmust
signicantlyexceedtheconstraintdepthsofboreholes
TS3andTS6.
ThebottomdepthofunitBwasestimatedtobe
3500m,buttworeasonssuggestthatthetruedepth
wasprobablydeeper.First,thedensitycontrastbe
tweenunitsCandB(530kg/m3)shoulddecreasewith
depthbecauseunsolidatedsediment(unitB),butnot
solidatedrock(unitC),iscompactedwithdepth.A
smallerdensitycontrastrequiresadeeperboundary
betweenunitsBandC.Second,althoughBouguer
anomaliesclearlyimpliedathreedimensional(3D)
structure,weassumeda2Dstructureinthismod
elling(Fig.2).The2Danalysisassumedthatden
sityanomalies(unitsA1,A2,andB)aredistributed
innitelyalongthestrikezone;however,ifthelow
densityareahasalimiteddistributionalongthestrike,
thebottomdepthofunitBshouldbedeeperthan
shownbythe2Dmodel.Thedeeperboundaryindi
catesthatthegradientoftheunitB/Cboundaryunder
therupturedzoneissteeperthanthatindicatedbythe
naldensitymodel.
Becausethedensitymodelsthatfollowedthecon
straintsexplainedin1)and2)didnotcompletelyt
theobservedgravitydata,thecalculatedgravitywas
slightlylowerthantheobservedgravityaroundbore
holeTS6(Fig.3(a)).Thisinconsistencymaybealle
viatedwhenthecompactionofunitsAandBisfurther
investigatedora3Dmodelisdeveloped.
Noboreholedatawereavailablefortheunitbound
ariesatthenortheastofboreholeTS1,sothedepths
werenotdetermined.

3. Resistivity Structure Derived from Magnetotelluric Observations

3.1 Magnetotelluric survey and data processing
AMTsurveyswereconductedacrosstherupturezoneof
the1938earthquakefaultat10sitesinMayandNovem
ber2006(Fig.1(c)).AtimeseriesoftheMTdatawere
recordedusingtheMTU2000systemmanufacturedby
PhoenixGeophysics,Ltd.(Toronto,ON,Canada).The
electriceldsweremeasuredatallsitesusingorthogo

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

349

9.4 Hz

1100 Hz

75
60

0.3

km
0

45

0.3

km

97 Hz

30
15

1.02 Hz

0.3

10

km
0.3

km
0

nm(Deigr)

-10
Fig.4.PhasetensorellipsesandParkinsonsinductionvectors(1100,97,9.4,and1.03Hz).Colourscalesoftheouterellipse, minskewangles;grey
scalesoftheinnerellipse,phasetensorskewangles;redarrows,inductionvectors;reddots,hydrothermalactivity.AMTandwidebandMTdata
(Ichihara et al.,2006)wereusedfortheanalysesof1100,97,9.4Hz,and1.03Hz,respectively.

(a)

(b)

Observed
A20
10a /20a

30a

40a 45a 50a

55a

Observed
A20
10a /20a

90a

60a A30 70a 80a

40a 45a 50a

55a

90a

60a A30 70a 80a

Deg(prhas)ntowkl

30a

0
-4

-3

-2

Calculated

-1

0 1 2
Distance (km)

0
-4

-3

-2

-1

0 1 2
Distance (km)

Calculated

Distance (km)

Distance (km)

1.5

2.0

2.5

Phase (degree)

Resistivity (Log10 ohm-m)

1.0

3.0

20

30

40

50

60

70

equFrncy(Log10Hz)

Logy(Frequnc10Hz)

Fig.5.PseudosectionsoftheobservedandcalculatedapparentresistivityandimpedancephasefortheMTinversion.Blackdots,datausedforthe
inversionprocedure.

350

impedancetensorsinthefrequencydomainthroughacas
cadedecimationtechnique(WightandBostick,1980).The
frequencyoftheconvertedimpedancefortheAMTdata
rangedfrom3300to0.35Hz.Highqualitydatawereob
tainedatmostsites,butthelowerfrequencybandforthe
AMTimpedance(<2Hz)wasnotwellidentied,espe
goL(cyneu 10Hz)

Lencyog(u 10Hz)

naldipoleswithPbPbCl2electrodesattachedatbothends.
Themagneticeldsatallsitesweremeasuredusingthree
orthogonalinductioncoils.Widebandmagnetotelluricdata
werealsoacquiredatstations40aand90ausinginduction
coilsorientedforwidebandsensing.
TherecordedAMTtimeseriesdatawereconvertedinto

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

ciallyforsites10a,30a,55a,70a,and80a.Inaddition,we
didnotobtainimpedanceslowerthan10Hzatsite60a.The
impedancesinthesocalleddeadbands(50001000Hz)
werealsonotwelldeterminedatsomesites.WidebandMT
dataatsites40aand90a(Fig.1(c)),andA20andA30(Ichi
hara et al.,2006)wereconvertedintoimpedancetensorsbe
tween320and0.00055Hzthroughthesameprocessused
fortheAMTdata.Highqualitydatawereobtainedatall
sitesandformostfrequencybands.
3.2 Estimation of the 2-D strike azimuth and
dimensionality of the MT data
Themagnetotelluricphasetensors(Caldwell et al.,
2004)andParkinsonsinductionvectorswerecalculated
toverifytwodimensionalityandtodeterminethe2Daz
imuthfortheinversion.Phasetensorisanimportanttool
torecognisethedimensionalityofthesubsurfacestructure.
Thephasetensorisdenedas

= X1Y,
where Xand Yaretherealandimaginarycomponents
oftheimpedancetensor(Z),respectively.Asignicant
advantageisthatphasetensorisnotaffectedbygalvanic
distortion.Aphasetensoriswrittenintheform

strikeofourprole.
WeusedonlytheTMmodeimpedancesfortheinver
sionforthefollowingreasons.Highphasesaround100Hz
atsites40a55aalsoindicatedaconductoraroundthisarea
(Fig.5).However,inductionvectorsorientedtothenorth
westbetween1100and9.4Hz(Fig.4)impliedthatthecon
ductorhada3Dgeometry.Ledo et al.(2002)andSiripun
varaporn et al.(2005)testedthe2Dinversionforasec
tioninwhichasynthetic3Dstructureconductorwasdis
tributedinandoutofthesurveyline,similartothesitua
tioninthisstudy.Whenthe3Dconductorisoutofthe
prole,Siripunvaraporn et al.(2005)showedaphantomof

Figs.5and6,respectively.Theinversioncodeestimatesthe
modelbasedontheABICleastsquaresmethodandcom
prehensivelyevaluatestherootmeansquare(RMS)mis
tbetweentheobservedandcalculatedimpedance,the
modelsmoothnessandstaticshifts.Impedancesinlower
frequencybands(<1Hz)werenotusedfortheinversion
forthefollowingreasons.First,thelowfrequencydata
atallofthewidebandMTsiteswereaffectedbyalarge
phasetensorskewangleexceeding10andanomalousoff
diagonalphasesexceeding90(Ichihara et al.,2006).Sec
ond,aNESWazimuthoftheregionalstrikeofeastern
Hokkaidodistrict(Satoh et al.,2001)isnotconsistentwith
= RT ( )

max

min

R( + ),

wheremax,minand arecoordinateinvariantsand R( )
isarotationmatrix.Thephasetensorellipseisthegraph
icalexpressionofthephasetensorinwhichthemajoraxis
(max)andminoraxis(min)oftheellipsedepicttheprinci
palaxesandthetensorvalues.Theorientationofthemajor
axisisspeciedbytheangle .Inthe2Dcase,the
majoraxisofthephasetensorisalignedparallelorperpen
diculartothestrikeoftheregionalresistivitydistribution.
Thephasetensorskewangle, ,measuresasymmetryof
thephaseresponse.Forthedetailedexplanations,seeCald
well et al.(2004).
Theazimuthsof
maxinthephasetensorellipseswere
mostlydirectedtothesameazimuthastheMTprole
(N55ES55W)oritsperpendicularazimuth(Fig.4).Be
causemaxandminvariedwithintheprole,the2Dstrike
azimuthseemedtobeorientedN35WS35E.Basedon
theabovetwopossibilities,theinductionvectors(Parkin
sonsvectors)supporttheN35WS35Eazimuthasthe2
Dstrike(Fig.4).Therefore,N35WS35Ewasadopted
asthestrikesofthe2Dinversions.However,theinduc
tionvectorsnearthe1938earthquakerupturezoneoriented
towardthenorthat11009.4Hz(Fig.4).Thesefeatures
indicatetheexistenceofa3Dconductorinthenorthern
partofthe1938earthquakefaultzone.Theunsaltedwater
ofLakeKutcharowasexcludedasacandidateforthe3D
conductor.
3.3 Two-dimensional inversion of the MT data
Aftertheimpedanceswererotatedintotheestimated2
Dazimuth,theapparentresistivityandphaseinthefre
quencybandbetween3300and1Hzwereinvertedusing
the2DinversioncodedevelopedbyOgawaandUchida
(1996).Pseudosectionsofthedatausingtheinversion
andsoundingcurvesofsites40aand55aaredescribedin

the3DconductoramongtheinversionsusingTM,TE,and
TM +TEmodeimpedances.However,Ledo et al.(2002)
showedthatthephantomisnotclearintheTM +TEmode
inversioncomparedtotheTMmodeinversion.Thus,TM
+TEmodedataseemedtobeappropriateinoursituation.
Whenthe3Dconductorisintheprole,Siripunvaraporn
et al.(2005)showedthatinversionsusingonlyTMmode
impedancesidentiedanappropriatestructure,whereasin
versionsusingonlytheTEmodeortheTM +TEmodes
producedastrongphantomconductorbeneaththetrue3
Dconductor.Ledo et al.(2002)alsoindicatedthatthe
TMmodewassuperiortotheTM +TEdata.Therefore,
whetherthe3Dconductorisinorofftheproledetermines
theappropriatemode.BecauseresistivitylogginginTS3
showedaconductorintheprolebetweenadepthof500
700m(NEDO,1985;Fig.1(c)),theconductorseemedto
bedistributedintheprole.Therefore,theTMmodewas
preferablefortheinversion.
Theinversionwasstartedfroma100ohmmhomoge
neoushalfspacemodel.A5%erroroorintheapparent
resistivityandphasewasapplied.Theobservedimpedances
weremostlyexplainedbytheinversionprocedure(Fig.5).
TheRMSmistintheinitialmodel(16.92)wasreducedto
2.50inthenaliteration.Theinvertedresistivitysection
(Fig.7)showedthefollowingfeatures:
1)Aconductivebodywasimagedundertheruptured
zone(C1,1030ohmm).TheC1conductorwas
requiredtoexplainlargephasesover60thatwere
observedaround100Hzatsites40a55a.
2)TheC2conductor(320ohmm)wasdistributed
aroundthenortheasternedgeoftheprole,wherehy
drothermalactivitieshavebeenobserved(Fig.1(b)).
Lowapparentresistivityatsite90a(Fig.5)clearlyin
dicatedtheC2conductor.
3)Aresistiveareawasimagedbelow1000matthe
southwestsideofthe1938Kutcharoearthquakerup

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

(a)

(b)

Site 40a
obs
cal
2.5

test s2
test s1-2
test c1

1.5

1.5
75
60

45
30

test s3
test s3-4
test c1

obs
cal

2.5

60

Site 50a

15

45
4

2
1frequency

[Hz]

351

30

freq
4

uency
[Hz]

Fig.6.Observedandcalculatedsoundingcurvesfortheapparentresistivityandphaseofsites40aand55a.Dotswitherrorbars,observedapparent
resistivityandphaseofTMmode;blacksolidline,invertedmodel;colouredlines,hypotheticalmodel.

10a

N55 E
A20
20a

40a

30a

evsirotyg1[l0hm-]

evsirotyg1[l0hm-]

S55 W

90a

80a

4.0

R2

C1

3.5
3.0

-1

-3

R1

S-2

S-1

S-3

C2

S-4

2.0
1.5

phdaseg[]

phdaseg[]

-2

2.5

1.0

-4

10

-3

10

-2

10

-1

10

0 1
10
Distance
(km)

10

10

10

10

0.5

10

Fig.7.Inverted2DresistivityimagealongtheMTprolecrossingtherupturezoneofthe1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0).Redrectangle,location
oftheDCelectricalsurveyinFig.8;R,locationofa1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0)rupturezone.

Dekpthm()

vsReLityog(10hm-)

3.4 A sensitivity test of the inverted resistivity structurezone(R1,5001000ohmm).Highapparentre

sistivityandlowphasebetween1and10Hzatsites
tures
10a,20a/A20,A30and40arequiredtheR1.
ThenalinvertedresistivitymodelfromtheMTdata
45a 50a 55a 60a A30 70a
4)Theresistivezone(R2)wasdetectedfromthesurface
showedaconductivebodyundertherupturezone(C1,20
toadepthof200300mattheeasternpartofthepro
50ohmm;Fig.7).Thesensitivitytestconrmedtheexis
le.R2obviouslycorrespondedtounitA2consisting
tenceoftheC1conductor.Basedonthenalmodel,C1is
ofandesiticlavas.
hypothesisedtohavebeenconvertedto100ohmm(Fig.7).
Theresponsesprovidedbythehypotheticalmodelweresig
ResistivityloggingatTS3,drillednearsite40a,mea
nicantlyinconsistentwiththatofthenalmodelandthe
suredaresistivityof40300ohmminunitA(0545m
observed100Hzatsites40a55a(Fig.6).TheRMSerror
ofdepth),1050ohmminunitB(545742m)and100
ofthehypotheticalmodelincreasedfrom2.50to4.84inthe
500ohmminunitC(>742m;Fig.8).Theinvertedre
nalmodel.
sistivityimagewasconsistentwiththeverticalresistivity
ThepositionoftheboundarybetweenR1andthemoder
variationsmeasuredinboreholeTS3(Fig.8).Thus,the
ateresistivityzonewasalsoimportanttothecalderastruc
invertedimageseemedtobereliablearoundboreholeTS3.
tureandthe1938earthquake,butthelocationistenuous
becausetheC1conductorcoveredthisarea.Thus,we
testedthesensitivityofthelocationwithfourhypothetical
models.First,theS2regionofthenalresistivitymodel

352

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

(a)
0

200

400

600

Resistivity (ohm-m)
200
400
600

(b)

Density (kg/m3)
1000

2000

3000

800

1000

600
200
800
0

400

0
1000

UnitA-1

Fig.8.MeasuredandmodelledresistivitiesanddensitiesalongboreholeTS3(NEDO,1985).ThelocationoftheboreholeisshowninFig.2.(a)
Dottedlines,logged(25cmnormal)resistivityfromthe2Dinversion;solidlines,estimatedresistivity.(b)Dots,coresamplewetdensity;solidline,
estimateddensity(Table1).

nearsite50a(Fig.1(c)).Then,DCelectricalresistivi
tiesweremeasuredfrom748combinationsoftransmitting
andreceivingdipolesinWennerandEltranarraysbyus
ingelectricalresistivityimaginginstrumentsmanufactured
byChibaElectronicsCo.Interelectrodespacing(a)varied
from10to160m.ThesensitivezoneoftheWennerar
raywasconcentratedatthedipolecentresbutwasnarrow
alongthehorizontaldirection.Incontrast,theEltranar
rayhadarelativelyhighsensitivityatthehorizontallywide
areabuthadreversedsensitivityattheoutsideofthedipole
system.Botharrayshadweakersensitivityatareasdeeper
than a.Pseudosectionsoftheobservedapparentresistivi
tiesareshowninFig.9.Theobservedapparentresistivity
datawereinvertedtoa2Dresistivityimageusingthenu
mericalinversioncodedevelopedbyUchida(1991).The
inversionstartedfromthe100ohmmhomogeneoushalf
spacemodel.Anexcellenttoftheobserveddataandthe
calculatedpseudosectionswasnoted(Fig.9).TheRMS
mistwasreducedfrom46.6to1.34inthenaliteration.
Severalfeatureswererecognisedintheinvertedre
sistivitysectionunderthe1938earthquakerupturezone
(Fig.10).Onewasadeep(>100m)highresistivitybody
(R3, <1000ohmm)foundatthesouthwestsideoftherup
turezone.BecauseR3wasnotfoundinthenortheastside
oftherupturezone,athicknessoftheR3resistivebody
4. DC Electrical Survey Around the Rupturedgreaterthan30mindicatesthatmorethan30mofvertical
movementoccurredalongthe1938earthquakefault.Past
Zone
Torevealthedetailedresistivitystructurearoundthe
activityalongthisplanemayhavebeensupportedbyan
approximately10mverticaloffset,distributedaround50
1938earthquakerupturezone,weperformeda2DDC
electricalresistivitysurveyinNovember2006.Welaida
mdepth,betweentherelativelylowresistivityanomalies
ofC3andC4.The10moffsetisnotprecisebecausethe
490mtransectasanAMTsurveylinewith50electrodes
UnitC

nBUti

hpe(mtD)

hm)(peDt

(Fig.7)waslledwith50ohmm.Theresponseproduced
bythishypotheticalmodelwasalmostthesameasthenal
modelatallsites(responseatsite40aisdrawnwithablue
dashedlineinFig.6(a)).Thesecondmodelindicatedthat
aregionbetweenS1andS2waslledwith50ohmm.
Themodelresponseshowedsignicantlyhigherphasesof
around10Hzandlowerapparentresistivity(<3Hz)com
paredtothenalmodelandtheobserveddata(abluedotted
lineinFig.6(a)).Theseresultsindicatethathighresistivity
wasrequiredatS1butpossiblynotatS2.Forthethird
hypotheticalmodel,theS3regioninFig.7waslledwith
300ohmm.Theseresponsesexplainedthesharpphaseun
dulationsofaround10Hzatsites50aand55acompared
tothenalmodel(bluedashedlineinFig.6(b)).The
impedancesattheothersiteswerealmostthesameasthe
nalmodel.Finally,theS3andS4regionswerelled
with300ohmm.Theresultsdifferedsignicantlyfrom
theobserveddataandthethirdhypotheticalmodel.Tests
threeandfourindicatedsharpresistivitychangesbetween
S3andS4,butthesmoothnessconstraintdidnotallow
convergenceintoasharpstructure.Consequently,theloca
tionoftheR1marginwasaroundS2,S3,andS4,and
thesharperresistivityboundarymayhavebeendistributed
attheR1margin.

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

50

50

100

100

OBS (Wenner)

150
0

100

OBS (Eltran)

150
200
300
Distance (m)

400

500

50

50

100

100

CAL (Wenner)

150
0

100

400

500

100

200
300
Distance (m)

400

500

200
300
Distance (m)

400

500

CAL (Eltran)

150
200
300
Distance (m)

353

Resistivity (log10 ohm-m)

100

2.0

2.2

2.4

2.6

3.0

2.8

3.2

3.4

Fig.9.PseudosectionsoftheobservedandcalculatedapparentresistivityphasefortheDCelectricalsurvey.

A ruptured zone of
the 1938 earthquake

R4

3.5
oElecdtrspa(m)

eEctrodlspma)(

C3

50

C4

2.5

R3

100

100

200

300

400

Distance (m)

500

oElecdtrspa(m)

lectrodspa(m)E

Fig.10.DCresistivityimagearoundthefaultzoneofthe1938Kutcharoearthquake(6.0).Arupturezonecreatedbytheearthquakewasreportednear
the170mpoint(Tsuya,1938).

(a)

(b)
0

TS-3
30a

TS-6

45a 50a

TS-1
60a A30 70a

-3

-2

Hydrothermal activities

C2
-1

the 1938 Kutcharo earthquake (M 6.0)

conductor (C1)

Distance (km)

Resistivity (Log10 ohm-m)

hDep(mt)

-4

90a

80a

R1

-2

topographic
caldera wall

R2

C1

-1

-3

conductor
(C2)

Basement rocks

vsReoityg(l10hm-)

10a

A20
20a

transportation
of aqueous fluid

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

??

5
Magma
Intrusion

6
-4

-3

-2

-1

0 1 2
Distance (km)

Fig.11.(a)Comparisonofthedensityandresistivitystructure.TheimagecreatedbytheblackmeshmarksdenotesthenaldensitymodelinFig.3.
ThecolourimagedescribestheresistivitystructureinFig.6projectedtoproleAAinFig.2.(b)AsimultaneousimageoftheKutcharocaldera
andtheestimatedfaultofthe1938Kutcharoearthquake( M6.0)alongthesameproleasshownin(a).

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

hDep(kmt)

blocksizeoftheresistivitymodelwas10m;however,itis
thoughttobeadequatelylargecomparedtotheverticaldis
placementcausedbythe1938earthquake(0.8m;Tsuya,
1938).ThelackofR3onthenortheastsideandtheoffset
betweenC3andC4mayindicatesubsidenceatthenorth
eastsideasaresultofrepeatedearthquakeactivity.These
offsetsareconsistentwiththeverticaldisplacementofthe
1938earthquakesurfaceruptures.However,thechanges
inlakelevelafterthe1938earthquakeindicatesubsidence
alongoronthesouthwestsideandupheavalatthenorth
eastsideoftherupturedzone(Kato,1940;Fig.1(c)).De
tailedsurveys,suchasafaulttrench,arerequiredtoclarify
thefaultmovements.
Aresistivezone(R4)wasalsoidentiedimmediatelybe
lowthesurfaceneartheMaruyamadomeatthesouthwest
sideoftheprole.BecausetheareaaroundtheMaruyama
lavadomehasahigherelevation,R4wasprobablyassoci
atedwithMaruyamalava.

5. Discussion
5.1 Interpretation of resistivity and density
structures

thelowermostlayeramongtheoutcroppingsoftheNeo
genebasementrocksintheTeshikagaarea(Matsunami
andYahata,1989).NEDO(1985)andKoshimizuand
Kim(1986)suggestedthatthessionandtrackagesof
theIkurushibeformationare13.1and7.98.2Ma,respec
tively.Theresistivityloggingshowedhighresistivity(290
980ohmm;Table1)inunitC.Theinvertedresistivityfrom
theAMTsurveyalongboreholeTS3revealedhighresistiv
ityconsistentwiththeloggeddata(Fig.8),indicatingthat
theresistivezone(R1)correspondedtounitC.Inaddition,
thespatialdistributionoftheresistivezone(R1)andunit
Cisconsistent(Fig.11(a)).Therefore,wecanassumethat
thebasementrockoftheIkurushibeorolderformationsis
distributedonthesouthwesternsideofthe1938faultzone.
Theareabetween500and1000mundersite10ashowsrel
ativelylowresistivity.Thisconductivezonemayindicate
anolderformationunderlyingtheIkurushibeformationor
sedimentswithintheIkurushibeformation(Matsunamiand
Yahata,1989),whichgenerallyshowslowresistivitycom
paredtoandesites(NEDO,1985).
hDep(kmt)

354

Thewelllog(TS3)drilledbyNEDO(1985)provided
informationonthelithology,density,andresistivityofthe

site(Fig.8).Basedonthisboreholedataandotherrefer
ences,thecalculateddensityandresistivitymodelscanbe
interpretedasfollows.
ThenalinvertedresistivitymodelfromtheMTdata
showedaconductivebodyundertherupturezone(C1,
2050ohmm;Fig.7).Thesensitivitytestconrmedthe
existenceoftheC1conductor.TheC1resistivity(10
30ohmm)wasconsistentwiththeloggingresistivityof
boreholesTS3andTS6.Acomparisonoftheresistivity
betweenthenalmodelandtheTS3loggingdataisshown
inFig.8.Montmorilloniteswereidentiedincoresam
plesobtainedneartheC1conductor(NEDO,1985).Be
causemontmorillonitesignicantlyreducestheresistivity
ofhostrock(e.g.,Takakura,1995),C1isinterpretedas
amontmorilloniterichzoneandimplieshydrothermalac
tivityundertherupturezonebecausetheyarecommonly
producedbyhydrothermalalteration.TheC1conductor
seemstobedistributedtowardthenorthwestoftheprole,
butnotthesouthwestsidebecausetheinductionvectors
pointednorthat1100,97,and9.4HznearC1(Fig.4).Sig
nicanthydrothermalactivityhasbeenrecognisedaround
Mt.Atosanupuriaswellasalongthe1938estimatedfault
(Fig.1(b,c)andFig.4),implyingthattheC1conductor
alongthe1938faultwasproducedbyhydrothermalalter
ation.Themarginofthedepressionzonemayhavebeena
pathforwaterthatsubsequentlyinducedtheC1hydrother
malalteration.
Themagmaintrusionhasbeenestimatedtobeabout
6kmdeepat2kmnorthofsite90a(Fig.11(b);Geographi
calSurveyInstitute,2006).Inaddition,hydrothermalareas
andanactivevolcano(Mt.Atosanupuri)aredistributedat
thesurfaceofthemagmaintrudedzone(Fig.1(b)),sug
gestingthattheC2conductorwasproducedinassociation
withtheseactivities.
UnitC(Ikurushibeformation)consistsmainlyofan
desiteandtuffbreccias,mostofwhicharealteredinthe
coresamples.TheIkurushibeformationisassumedtobe

ThelowBougueranomalyintheKutcharocalderacan
beexplainedbythethicksediment(unitsA1,B;Fig.3).
Thelowtomoderateresistivityzone(10200ohmm),in
cludingtheC2conductornortheastofR1,corresponded
tounitsA1andBthatwereinferredasthesedimentll
coveredKutcharocaldera(Fig.11(a)).Basedonthehy
potheticaltestingdiscussedin3.4,theR1marginwasmost
likelylocatedbetweenS2andS4,andasharperresistivity
boundarymayhavebeendistributedtherethanindicatedby
theinvertedresistivitymodel.Thesefeaturesareconsistent
withthesteepinclinezoneofthedensityboundarybetween
unitsBandC,andindicatethattheresistivityanddensity
distributionsimagethegeologicalboundaryofpastcaldera
activities.
5.2 The relationship between the 1938 Kutcharo earthquake and the Kutcharo caldera
ThedetailedresistivityimageproducedbytheDCelec
tricsurveydatasuggestscumulativefaultactivityinthe
Quaternaryalongthe1938rupturezones(Fig.10).The
densitymodelconstrainedbyboreholesTS3,TS6,and
TS1showedasteeplydippingboundarybetweenunits
BandCbeneaththisarea(Fig.3).Theresistivitysec
tionobtainedfromtheMTdataalsosupportsthisbound
ary(Figs.7,11(a)).Ingeneral,manyinlandearthquakes
aretheresultofanabruptslipwithinlargediscontinuous
zones.Therefore,thisclearspatialcorrespondencebetween
themaindepressionboundaryoftheKutcharocalderaand
the1938faultindicatesthatanabruptslipalongthecaldera
margincausedthe1938earthquake.
Normalfaultingwiththecollapseofthecaldera,there
leaseofregionalstressduetoacrustalheterogeneityand
uidintrusionarethreepossiblemechanismsforthe1938
earthquake.Therstpossibilityisunlikelybecausede
pression(outersides)andupheaval(innersides)ofthe
calderaoccurredafterthe1938earthquakeandwerebased
onchangesinthelakewaterlevel(Tsuya,1938;Kato,
1940;Fig.1(c)).Inaddition,the1938earthquakecaused
leftlateralstrikeslipdisplacement.
Thesecondpossibilitymaybeappropriatebecauselarge
contractivestrain(about8ppmduring18831994)hasbeen

H.ICHIHARA et al.:RESISTIVITYANDDENSITYSTRUCTUREOFTHE1938KUTCHAROEARTHQUAKE

accumulatingintheeasternHokkaidoarea(Hashimotoand
Tada,1988)generatedbytheobliquesubductionofthePa
cicplatealongtheKuriletrench.AsTable1shows,ge
ologicaldifferencesbetweenthecalderall(unitsAand
B)andbasementrock(unitC)createaclearelasticbound
ary(Youngsmodulus).Generally,thelocalelastichetero
geneityintheregionalstresseldinducesalocalisedac
cumulationofstressresultinginfaultruptures.Manyin
landearthquakeswereexplainedbythistheory(e.g.Iioand
Kobayashi,2002;Ichihara et al.,2008).The1938earth
quakewasareleaseofaccumulatedregionalstressaround
anareaofstrongelasticheterogeneityduetothecaldera
structure;however,thenorthwestsoutheastazimuthof
thecontractiveaxisisnearlyparalleltothestrikeazimuth
ofthe1938fault.Thus,thesmallshearstressisbelievedto
haveinducedfaultslip.
Thethirdpossibilityisthatuidinjectionfromassoci
atedmagmaactivityinducedorenhancedthe1938earth
quake.Fluidinjectioncandirectlycausefaultruptureas
discussedbyJulian(1983).Heindicatedthatadykeintru
sionalongorneartheverticalfaultplaneoftheLongVal
leycalderacausedseveral M6earthquakes.Thishypoth
esisisbasedonmechanismsthatcannotbeexplainedbya
doublecouplemechanism,butcanbeexplainedbyacom

355

pensatedlinearvectordipolemechanisminducedbydyke
intrusion.SavageandCockerham(1984)obtainedacor
respondingsourcemodelfromgeodeticsurveys.Nospe
cicseismicandgeodeticstudieshavebeenconductedin
theTeshikagaarea;however,magmaintrusionrelatingto
the1938earthquakeissupportedbythefollowingpoints.
First,thedepressionboundarybeneaththerupturezonecan
easilybecomeapathwayofintrusion.Second,theC1con
ductor,whichindicateshydrothermalactivitybeneaththe
depressionboundary,suggeststhepresenceofmagmaac
tivity.
Fluidinjectioncanalsoenhancedoublecoupleearth
quakes.Highpressureuidinjectionintothefaultplane
oftheSanAndreasFaultreducedshearfracturestrength
andallowedfaultslipinthesmallshearstressenvironment
(e.g.,Rice,1992;Sasai,1997).Thehighpressureuid
alongthedepressionboundaryofthe1938faultisconsis
tentwiththisnotionbecausetheC1montmorilloniterich
zonecouldbehaveasanimpermeablecapforthesupplied
uidstransportedthroughthe1938faultplane(Nurhasan
et al.,2006).Thus,the1938earthquakemayhaveresulted
fromasimilarmechanismasdescribedfortheSanAndreas
Fault.Consequently,themechanismfortheearthquake
aroundtheKutcharocalderacanbeexplainedbytheuid
intrusionhypothesis.Thismechanismandstressaccumu

lationduetocrustalheterogeneitydonotconict,andthus
couldhaveactedsynergisticallytoinducethe1938earth
quake.Adenseseismicityandgeodeticnetworkaround
thecalderaisexpectedtocontributetotheunderstandingof
thecomplexrelationshipbetweenuidbehaviourandearth
quakeoccurrence.

6. Conclusion
Densityandresistivitystructureswereinvestigated
aroundtheseismogeniczoneofthe1938Kutcharoearth
quake( M6.0)toidentifytherelationshipsbetweenthe

earthquakeandthecalderastructure.Thenalden
sitymodelrevealedahighlyinclinedgeologicalbound
arycorrespondingtoamaindepressionzonemargininthe
Kutcharocalderathatwasunderneaththeestimatedfault.
Thebottomofthecalderawasinferredtobeover3.5km
deep.Theresistivitystructure,derivedfromAMTsurveys,
supportedthegeologicalboundaryatthedepressionbound
ary.Adetailedresistivitysection,revealedbyaDCelectric
survey,showeddiscontinuitiesundertherupturezone,indi
catingcumulativeverticaldisplacementgeneratedbyfault
activity.Thediscontinuityseemedtoextendtothedepres
sionboundary.Therefore,the1938earthquakeprobablyre
sultedfromfaultactivityalongthemaindepressionmargin
oftheKutcharocaldera.Weproposethatthe1938earth
quakemayhavebeencausedbythecollapseofthecaldera
asaresultofnormalfaulting,thereleaseofregionalstress
enhancedbyacrustalheterogeneity,orfaultrupturerelated
touidintrusion.Therstpossibilitywasexcludedbecause
thedepressionandupheavalobservedafterthe1938earth
quakewasinconsistentwiththecollapseofthecaldera.The
secondpossibilityalsoseemsunlikelybecausethemaxi
mumprincipalstressaxisandinferredfaultstrikeareal
mostparallel.Thelastpossibilitysuggeststhatuidin
trusioninducedacompensatedlinearvectordipolemech
anismintothedyke.Thishighpressureintrusionintothe
faultreducedfracturestrengthandallowedfaultslipdueto
smallshearstress.However,littleevidenceexiststosupport
thesemechanisms.Thus,stationaryseismicandgeodetic
observationsareneededaroundtheKutcharocaldera.
Acknowledgments.WethankProf.YasuoOgawaoftheTokyo

InstituteofTechnologyandProf.MasaakiMishinaofTohokuUni
versityforprovidingmanyoftheinstrumentsusedintheMTsur
vey.Wealsothanklandownersinthestudyregionforallowingus
toestablishobservationsitesontheirland.Theeditor,Dr.Akira
Takada,andtworeviewers,Prof.YoichiSasaiandanotheranony
mousreviewer,helpedustoimprovethemanuscript.Helpfuldis
cussionswithProf.TakeshiHashimoto,Prof.YasunoriNishida,
Dr.RyoHonda,Dr.HiroakiKamiyamaandProf.HiroakiTaka
hashiofHokkaidoUniversityhelpedimprovethecontentofthis
paper.GMTsoftware(WesselandSmith,1998)wasusedtodraw
someofthegures.
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