Takeshi Akuhara

Career & Education

  • Apr. 2017 - present: Assistant Professor - Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
  • Sep. 2016 - Mar. 2017: Postdoctoral Fellow - Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, BC, Canada
  • Apr. 2016 - Aug. 2016: Postdoctoral Fellow - Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
  • Apr. 2013 - Mar. 2016: PhD in Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
  • Apr. 2011 - Mar. 2013: MS in Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Publications

  • Akuhara, T., Shiraishi, K., Tsuji, T., Yamashita, Y., Sugioka, H., Farazi, A. H., et al. (2026). Structural barriers control the spatial extent of slow earthquake slip. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68179-1
  • Akuhara, T., Shinohara, M., Yamada, T., Azuma, R., Hino, R., Obana, K., et al. (2025). Non-double-couple components of the 2024 Noto earthquake aftershocks: influence on focal mechanism estimation. Earth, Planets and Space, 77(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-025-02279-6
  • Shinohara, M., Hino, R., Takahashi, T., Obana, K., Kodaira, S., Azuma, R., et al. (2025). Precise aftershock activity in the marine source region of the 2024 Noto-Hanto earthquake by rapid response observation using ocean bottom seismometers Earth, Planets and Space. Earth, Planets and Space, 77, 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-025-02171-3
  • Tonegawa, T., Akuhara, T., Yamashita, Y., Sugioka, H., Shinohara, M., Takemura, S., & Tsuji, T. (2025). Accretionary prism deformation and fluid migration caused by slow earthquakes in the Nankai subduction zone. Solid Earth, 16(6), 579–592. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-579-2025
  • Hu, C.-Y., Shinohara, M., Yamashita, Y., Tonegawa, T., Yamada, T., Akuhara, T., & Mochizuki, K. (2024). Seismic activity around shallow plate boundary near westernmost Nankai Trough revealed by ocean bottom seismometer observation. Earth, Planets and Space, 76(1), 168. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-024-02122-4
  • Kim, H., Kawakatsu, H., Akuhara, T., Takeuchi, N., Isse, T., Shiobara, H., et al. (2024). Application of the reverberation waveform inversion for the high-resolution sediment layer structure in the Pacific. Geophysical Journal International, 240(2), 1331–1344. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggae444
  • Ai, S., Akuhara, T., He, L., Xiong, C., Yan, Z., & Zheng, Y. (2024). Seafloor Rayleigh ellipticity, measured from unoriented data, and its significance for passive seismic imaging in the ocean. Geophysical Journal International, 239(1), 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggae250
  • Kim, H. J., Kawakatsu, H., Akuhara, T., & Nozomu, T. (2023). Characterizing the Seafloor Sediment Layer Using Teleseismic Body Waves Recorded by Ocean Bottom Seismometers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 128(12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JB027616
  • Akuhara, T., Yamashita, Y., Sugioka, H., & Shinohara, M. (2023). Locating tectonic tremors with uncertainty estimates: time- and amplitude-difference optimization, wave propagation-based quality control and Bayesian inversion. Geophysical Journal International, 235(3), 2727–2742. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad387
  • Takemura, S., Hamada, Y., Okuda, H., Okada, Y., Okubo, K., Akuhara, T., et al. (2023). A review of shallow slow earthquakes along the Nankai Trough. Earth, Planets and Space, 75(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-023-01920-6
  • Akuhara, T., Yamashita, Y., Ohyanagi, S., Sawaki, Y., Yamada, T., & Shinohara, M. (2023). Shallow Low-Velocity Layer in the Hyuga-Nada Accretionary Prism and Its Hydrological Implications: Insights From a Passive Seismic Array. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 128(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB026298
  • Ai, S., Akuhara, T., Morishige, M., Yoshizawa, K., Shinohara, M., & Nakahigashi, K. (2023). Layered Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere Beneath the Japan Basin, the Sea of Japan. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 128(2). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025581
  • Shinohara, M., Sakai, S., Okada, T., Sato, H., Yamashita, Y., Hino, R., et al. (2022). Precise aftershock distribution of the 2019 Yamagata-oki earthquake using newly developed simple anchored-buoy ocean bottom seismometers and land seismic stations. Earth, Planets and Space, 74(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01562-6
  • Yamaya, L., Mochizuki, K., Akuhara, T., Takemura, S., Shinohara, M., & Yamada, T. (2022). CMT inversion for small-to-moderate earthquakes applying to dense short-period OBS array at off Ibaraki region. Earth, Planets and Space, 74(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-022-01721-3
  • Spica, Z. J., Castellanos, J. C., Viens, L., Nishida, K., Akuhara, T., Shinohara, M., & Yamada, T. (2022). Subsurface Imaging With Ocean-Bottom Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Water Phases Reverberations. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(2). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095287
  • Takeo, A., Nishida, K., Aoyama, H., Ishise, M., Kai, T., Kurihara, R., et al. (2022). S-wave modelling of the Showa-Shinzan lava dome in Usu Volcano, Northern Japan, from seismic observations. Geophysical Journal International, 230(3), 1662–1678. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggac111
  • Akuhara, T., Nakahigashi, K., Shinohara, M., Yamada, T., Shiobara, H., Yamashita, Y., et al. (2021). Lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary beneath the Sea of Japan from transdimensional inversion of S-receiver functions. Earth, Planets and Space, 73(1), 171. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01501-5
  • Kim, H., Kawakatsu, H., Akuhara, T., Shinohara, M., Shiobara, H., Sugioka, H., & Takagi, R. (2021). Receiver Function Imaging of the Amphibious NE Japan Subduction Zone—Effects of Low‐Velocity Sediment Layer. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126(9), e2021JB021918. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB021918
  • Yamaya, L., Mochizuki, K., Akuhara, T., & Nishida, K. (2021). Sedimentary structure derived from multi-mode ambient noise tomography with dense OBS network at the Japan Trench. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126, e2021JB021789. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB021789
  • Spica, Z. J., Nishida, K., Akuhara, T., Pétrélis, F., Shinohara, M., & Yamada, T. (2020). Marine sediment characterized by ocean-bottom fiber-optic seismology. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(16), e2020GL088360. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088360
  • Akuhara, T., Tsuji, T., & Tonegawa, T. (2020). Overpressured underthrust sediment in the Nankai Trough forearc inferred from transdimensional inversion of high-frequency teleseismic waveforms. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(15), e2020GL088280. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088280
  • Akuhara, T., Bostock, M. G., Plourde, A. P., & Shinohara, M. (2019). Beyond receiver functions: Green's function estimation by transdimensional inversion and its application to OBS data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 124(2), 1944–1961. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016499
  • Akuhara, T. (2018). Fluid Distribution Along the Nankai-Trough Megathrust Fault off the Kii Peninsula. Springer Theses. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8174-3
  • Akuhara, T., Mochizuki, K., Kawakatsu, H., & Takeuchi, N. (2017). A fluid-rich layer along the Nankai trough megathrust fault off the Kii Peninsula inferred from receiver function inversion. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB013965
  • Akuhara, T., Mochizuki, K., Kawakatsu, H., & Takeuchi, N. (2016). Non-linear waveform analysis for water-layer response and its application to high-frequency receiver function analysis using OBS array. Geophysical Journal International, 206(3), 1914–1920. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggw253
  • Akuhara, T., & Mochizuki, K. (2015). Hydrous state of the subducting Philippine Sea plate inferred from receiver function image using onshore and offshore data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 120(12), 8461–8477. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB012336
  • Akuhara, T., & Mochizuki, K. (2014). Application of cluster analysis based on waveform cross-correlation coefficients to data recorded by ocean-bottom seismometers: results from off the Kii Peninsula. Earth, Planets and Space, 66(1), 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/1880-5981-66-80
  • Akuhara, T., Mochizuki, K., Nakahigashi, K., Yamada, T., Shinohara, M., Sakai, S., et al. (2013). Segmentation of the Vp/Vs ratio and low-frequency earthquake distribution around the fault boundary of the Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(7), 1306–1310. https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50223

Grants

  • Apr. 2024 - Mar. 2026: MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A), KAKENHI Grant Number 24H01021
  • Apr. 2019 - Mar. 2022: JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, KAKENHI Grant Number 19K14811
  • Aug. 2017 - Mar. 2019: JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up, KAKENHI Grant Number 17H06604
  • Sep. 2016 - Mar. 2017: JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad
  • Apr. 2014 - Mar. 2016: JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC2)

Awards

  • Mar. 2016: Research Encouragement Award, School of Science, The University of Tokyo
  • Oct. 2015: Student Outstanding Presentation Award, Seismological Society of Japan Fall Meeting
  • May 2015: Student Outstanding Presentation Award, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2015