EARTHQUAKE SOURCE AND GROUND MOTION CHARACTERISTICS IN EASTERN JAPAN DURING THE 2011 OFF THE PACIFIC COAST OF TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE

The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake brought severe damage caused not only by the tsunami but also by the ground motions. The present manuscript summarizes the source mechanism/process and the characteristics of ground motions around eastern Japan during the earthquake. For the last two years after the earthquake, many researchers have devoted their efforts to analyzing and discussing the source and ground motions. New findings from some recent works are also cited. We, furthermore, introduce characteristics of ground motions at some typical damaged sites, where no records of ground motions were obtained during the main shock, using time histories of after shocks.