Coseismic and early postseismic slip for the 2003 Tokachi‐oki earthquake sequence inferred from GPS data

Early afterslip following the 2003 Tokachi‐oki earthquake is investigated using subdaily GPS time series. Afterslip results are compared with the coseismic slip for the M8 mainshock and the M7.4 aftershock. Afterslip between those two earthquakes is inferred at the southwestern adjacent region of the mainshock, between two epicentral regions, which possibly triggered the aftershock in the southwest. Subsequently, deeper slip occurs. The afterslip loci are distinct from the rupture regions. The non‐uniform propagation of afterslip may reflect the depth‐dependence of the effective normal stress and the distance between the closest unstable slip patches.