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Kato Lab
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A lab that studies how earthquakes begin, using seismic observation data.
AboutAbout the lab
How does an earthquake begin?
The Kato Lab studies the mechanisms by which earthquakes occur, based on seismic observations.
The lab focuses on how slow earthquakes, in which a fault slips slowly, interact with ordinary earthquakes.
By analyzing seismicity observed before large earthquakes (foreshock activity), the lab has shown that slow slip occurred near the mainshock hypocenter before events such as the Tohoku-Oki earthquake.
Key terms
- Slow slip
- A phenomenon in which a fault slips more slowly than in an ordinary earthquake, releasing accumulated strain energy
- Foreshock
- An earthquake that occurs near the site of a large earthquake (the mainshock) before it
- Low-frequency earthquake
- A small earthquake in which slow shaking is more prominent than in ordinary earthquakes
- Earthquake swarm
- A phenomenon in which earthquakes occur continuously in a region without a distinct mainshock
ResearchResearch themes
The mechanisms by which earthquakes occur are highly complex. To deepen understanding of earthquake generation processes based on seismic observations, the lab analyzes seismicity preceding large earthquakes and large volumes of seismic waveform data obtained from dense, multi-station seismic networks.
*Illustrative imageHow Do Large Earthquakes Begin?
Focusing on foreshocks that occur nearby immediately before a large earthquake, the lab investigates the process in which foreshocks and slow slip occur simultaneously and deformation becomes concentrated around the fault. Similar phenomena have also been found before the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, the 2014 Northern Chile earthquake, and the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.
*Illustrative imageImaging Faults with Dense Seismic Observation
The lab deployed a seismic network of 1,000 stations in the source region of the 2000 Western Tottori earthquake, and used the waveform data obtained to estimate a high-precision hypocenter distribution and the subsurface structure. The results showed that the fault geometry is complex, and that this complexity affects the patterns of seismic activity.
*Illustrative imageLow-Frequency Earthquakes and the Transition of Slip
On plate-boundary faults, low-frequency earthquakes occur in the transition zone between locked and unlocked regions. By analyzing this activity, the lab investigates how the fault slips in the transition zone.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of Aftershocks and Earthquake Swarms
The lab investigates how aftershocks and earthquake swarms occur, focusing on temporal changes in seismic activity and in the direction of stress underground, as well as on triggering by other earthquakes.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Kato Lab consist of faculty, project researchers, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorAitaro KatoPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Japan earthquake map” Jackopoid / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- How Do Large Earthquakes Begin?: “Kumamoto Earthquake, Japan (ASTER)” NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team / Public domain (cropped)
- Imaging Faults with Dense Seismic Observation: “CMG-40T Triaxial Broadband Seismometer” Z22 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Low-Frequency Earthquakes and the Transition of Slip: “Nankai trough topographic” Peka / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms of Aftershocks and Earthquake Swarms: “Seismogram at Weston Observatory” Z22 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Mochizuki Lab (Marine Seismology)): “Test des sismomètres OBS (Ocean Bottom Seismometer) en bassin d'essais (Ifremer )” Olivier Dugornay (Ifremer) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nakatani Lab): “Fault slickenside (Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee-North Carolina, USA) 1” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Miyake Lab (Earthquake Research Institute, Division of Earthquake and Volcano Disaster Research)): “Aso house damaged by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake 2” hanonimas / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Watada Lab (Earth and Planetary Dynamics)): “SWOT Satellite Measures Pacific Tsunami (PIA26652)” NASA/JPL-Caltech / Public domain (cropped)
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