GNSS signals in South Korea after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

The 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake caused significant geodetically detectable surface deformations across Northeast Asia, enhancing seismic activity in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula (SKP).

The GNSS data-based postseismic deformation rates show variations at scales of ≤ 100 kilometers, generally in agreement with regional seismicity.

Our numerical models indicate that the asthenospheric viscosity in this region is approximately 1019 Pa sec. However, deforma- tion rates from the numerical models exhibit lower magnitudes and broader scales of variation compared to those from GNSS data. The sensitivity of the numerical modeling results suggests that small-scale variations in GNSS de- formation rates might arise from lithospheric heterogeneity at a comparable scale.