Slow earthquake

A fault-slip event that releases seismic strain over hours to years, far more slowly than a typical earthquake and often without strong shaking.

Fault creep: Gradual movement along a geological fault without a distinct earthquake rupture. Some slow earthquakes involve sustained fault motion that resembles creep but occurs in identifiable episodes.
Subduction zone: A boundary where one tectonic plate descends beneath another. Many recognized slow earthquakes occur on the shallow or deep parts of these plate boundaries.
Earthquake early warning system: A system that detects an earthquake after rupture begins and alerts locations before strong shaking arrives. Slow events test how seismic monitoring distinguishes hazardous rupture from weak, prolonged slip.
Megathrust earthquake: A large earthquake on the shallow interface between subducting and overriding tectonic plates. Both can occur on the same plate interface, but megathrust rupture releases strain much faster.
Earthquake nucleation: The processes by which a fault rupture begins and develops into an earthquake. Whether slow slip can initiate or arrest a fast rupture remains a central question.
Episodic tremor and slip: A recurring slow-slip phenomenon accompanied by seismic tremor, especially in subduction zones. It is a well-studied form of slow earthquake linking gradual slip with tremor.
Tectonic plate: A large, moving piece of Earth's rigid outer shell. Plate motion loads faults with the strain released by slow earthquakes.
Cascadia subduction zone: The plate boundary off the Pacific Northwest where the Juan de Fuca Plate descends beneath North America. Recurring tremor and slow slip there provide a prominent natural laboratory for monitoring.
Slow earthquake (seismology): An earthquake-like event characterized by fault slip lasting far longer than ordinary seismic rupture. This label is sometimes used for the broad class that includes slow-slip events and related phenomena.
Tectonic tremor: Long-lasting, weak seismic signals generated by processes on active faults, often at plate boundaries. Its physical relationship to slow slip and fluid movement is still being investigated.

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