A megathrust earthquake releases accumulated elastic strain by slip on a large part of a subduction zone plate interface. Between events, a locked region can resist relative plate motion while the surrounding plates deform. Failure lets the interface move rapidly and radiate seismic waves.
The rupture's geometry, slip distribution and speed determine the ground motion and deformation. Vertical displacement of the seabed can generate a tsunami when it moves a sufficiently large water volume rapidly. Earthquake magnitude alone does not specify that displacement, and a deep or predominantly horizontal rupture can have a different tsunami effect from a shallow one.
Suppression of relative slip on part of a megathrust during an interval of plate convergence, producing a slip deficit and elastic deformation. GNSS, leveling and offshore geodesy constrain it through a fault-geometry and deformation model. A locking fraction is therefore an inferred kinematic quantity; it is not a direct measurement of friction or the magnitude of the next earthquake.
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