PINN-based short-term forecasting of fault slip evolution during the 2010 slow slip event in the Bungo Channel, Japan

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kano, Masayuki, Fukushima, Rikuto
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866910004521467904
author Kano, Masayuki
Fukushima, Rikuto
author_facet Kano, Masayuki
Fukushima, Rikuto
contents Monitoring and forecasting fault slip evolution are fundamental for understanding earthquake cycles and assessing future seismic hazards. This study proposes a physics-based data assimilation framework that integrates geodetic observations with fault mechanics introducing spatial heterogeneity in frictional properties, with a particular focus on short-term fault slip forecasting. The proposed method employs physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) to calculate fault slip evolutions and to optimize the spatial distribution of frictional properties and is applied to the 2010 slow slip event beneath the Bungo Channel, southwest Japan, by changing the data period to be assimilated. When only the initial phase of slip acceleration is assimilated, a velocity-weakening frictional region is inferred beneath southwest Shikoku, corresponding to the initial nucleation are of the slow slip event. Out results demonstrate that the PINN-based data assimilation framework successfully forecasts slow transient slip even when only slip acceleration data are assimilated, whereas forecasts based on frictionally homogeneous models result in unstable fast slip. This difference can be interpreted as a consequence of introducing frictional heterogeneity, which allows both the characteristic size of the slipping region and the critical nucleation size to be variable, leading to stable slip evolution consistent with observations. When longer observation periods are assimilated, a velocity-strengthening region emerges around the slip-weakening patch, progressively restricting the direction of slip propagation. This velocity-strengthening region is interpreted as a mechanical constraint imposed by fault physics, linking the slip regions required to reproduce the observed geodetic time series. The results highlight the capability of PINN-based data assimilation incorporating geodetic observations and fault mechanics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_21516
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle PINN-based short-term forecasting of fault slip evolution during the 2010 slow slip event in the Bungo Channel, Japan
Kano, Masayuki
Fukushima, Rikuto
Geophysics
Monitoring and forecasting fault slip evolution are fundamental for understanding earthquake cycles and assessing future seismic hazards. This study proposes a physics-based data assimilation framework that integrates geodetic observations with fault mechanics introducing spatial heterogeneity in frictional properties, with a particular focus on short-term fault slip forecasting. The proposed method employs physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) to calculate fault slip evolutions and to optimize the spatial distribution of frictional properties and is applied to the 2010 slow slip event beneath the Bungo Channel, southwest Japan, by changing the data period to be assimilated. When only the initial phase of slip acceleration is assimilated, a velocity-weakening frictional region is inferred beneath southwest Shikoku, corresponding to the initial nucleation are of the slow slip event. Out results demonstrate that the PINN-based data assimilation framework successfully forecasts slow transient slip even when only slip acceleration data are assimilated, whereas forecasts based on frictionally homogeneous models result in unstable fast slip. This difference can be interpreted as a consequence of introducing frictional heterogeneity, which allows both the characteristic size of the slipping region and the critical nucleation size to be variable, leading to stable slip evolution consistent with observations. When longer observation periods are assimilated, a velocity-strengthening region emerges around the slip-weakening patch, progressively restricting the direction of slip propagation. This velocity-strengthening region is interpreted as a mechanical constraint imposed by fault physics, linking the slip regions required to reproduce the observed geodetic time series. The results highlight the capability of PINN-based data assimilation incorporating geodetic observations and fault mechanics.
title PINN-based short-term forecasting of fault slip evolution during the 2010 slow slip event in the Bungo Channel, Japan
topic Geophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.21516