Tōkai earthquakes

There is now a dense array of instruments placed to accumulate a continuous stream of data related to seismicity, strain, crustal expansion, tilt, tidal variations, ground water fluctuations and other variables.

[2][5] As serious damage from strong shaking and huge tsunamis is expected, the Japanese government has designated this region as Areas under Intensified Measures against Earthquake Disaster.

[9][10][11] Future Tokai earthquakes are expected to occur with the sequence of JMA monitors unusual deformation that may accompany pre-slip using strainmeters to support the prediction of its occurrence.

If the Committee concludes that the Tokai Earthquake is imminent, the Director-General of JMA will report this conclusion to the Prime Minister, who will then hold a Cabinet meeting and issue a warning statement (警戒宣言) .

[5] The pattern of historical seismicity reveals that the megathrust surface is segmented, with five separate zones of rupturing identified, conventionally labeled A–E, from west to east.

This behavior has been reproduced by modeling the viscoelastic response of the megathrust fault plane with lateral variations in both convergence rate and frictional properties.