Changing crustal velocities preceded 2011 Tohoku‐oki quake

For decades leading up to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the east coast of Japan, GPS stations on the island of Honshu recorded changes at the rate at which the Earth's surface deformed. Previous work attributed this to the lasting effects of earlier earthquakes, such as the series of M w 6.5+ events that struck between 2003 and 2011. Temblors can influence deformation long after shaking stops through gradual postseismic slip and, for large events, through decades‐long relaxation of stress in the lower crust and mantle.