Kozu-Matsuda fault system in northern Izu collision zone, western part of Kanagawa Prefecture, central Japan

Western area of Kanagawa Prefecture is techtonically highlighted by its geological setting that the Izu-Bonin volcanic arc collides with the Japan Island arc there. The Kozu-Matsuda fault system which consists of the Kozu-Matsuda fault, the Matsuda-kita fault, the Hinata fault and the Hirayama fault is a surface manifestation of the plate boundary. Research of the Kozu-Matsuda fault has advanced dramatically after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. Having conducted a trench survey, Kanagawa Prefectural Government (2004) reported that the Kozu-Matsuda fault was activated at least four times in the past 4000 years and the latest activity occurred 650-950 years ago (AD. 1350-1050). However, details of the activity of the Hinata and Hirayama faults, the northern extension of the Kozu-Matsuda fault, are not well understood. The Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban areas (DaiDaiToku) made a 2040 m deep drilling in 2004 in Yamakita Town (Hayashi et al., 2006). DaiDaiToku also carried out the seismic reflection profiling along a route from Odawara to Yamanashi in 2005 (Sato et al., 2005). The study done by DaiDaiToku elucidated presence of two north-dipping thrusts. The northern thrust corresponds to the Hinata fault, and the southern one which is also considered to be a continuation of the Kozu-Matsuda fault probably represents a frontal thrust (Miyauchi et al., 2006). We have conducted paleoseismic investigations using data from boreholes across these thrusts.