Source mechanism of a VLP event immediately before the 2014 eruption of Mt. Ontake, Japan

Abstract

The phreatic eruption of Mt. Ontake in 2014 was preceded for 25 s by a very long period (VLP) seismic event recorded at one broadband and three short-period seismic stations located within 5000 m of the summit. We performed waveform inversion of the event within a frequency band of 0.1–0.5 Hz that pointed to an ENE-WSW opening (NNW-SSE striking) subvertical tensile crack at a depth of 300–1000 m beneath the region of the eruptive vents. This crack orientation is consistent with alignments of volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquake hypocenters and eruptive vents as well as normal faulting (E-W tension) focal mechanisms of the VT earthquakes. We interpreted these results as follows: the VLP source crack was one of a group of preexisting faults that was opened immediately before the eruption because of the passage of ascending gas from depth to the surface.