Обсуждается проблема современной геодинамики Дальневосточного региона на основе мониторинга разномасштабных деформаций и сейсмичности в области сочленения Евразийской, Североамериканской, Тихоокеанской, Амурской и Охотской литосферных плит с применением современных методов космической геодезии и широкополосной сейсмологии. Дан краткий обзор этапов развития Единой сети геодинамических наблюдений ДВО РАН, основных результатов сейсмологических и GPS/ГЛОНАСС-наблюдений, полученных в рамках целевой комплексной программы научных исследований ДВО РАН «Современная геодинамика, активные геоструктуры и природные опасности Дальнего Востока России (2009–2013 гг.)» и проектов ДВО РАН 2014, 2018, 2019 гг., а также достигнутых позиций ДВО РАН в области геодинамики. The problem of the recent geodynamics of the Far East region is discussed based on monitoring of different-scale deformations and seismicity in the articulation of Eurasian, North American, Pacific, Amurian and Okhotsk lithospheric plates using modern methods of space geodesy and broadband seismology. We present a brief overview of the development stages of the Unified Network of Geodynamic Observations of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the main results of seismological and GPS/GLONASS observations obtained within the framework of the Targeted Comprehensive Research Program of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for 2009–2013 «Recent geodynamics, active geological structures and natural hazards of the Far East of Russia», Projects of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2014, 2018, 2019) and the achievements of FEB RAS in the field of geodynamics.

The nature of long-term vertical crustal movements observed in the southern Primorye is oscillatory and related with the subduction zone processes. Vertical postseismic displacement velocities ranging from 7 to 14 mm/yr have recognized up to January 2014 at a set of GPS stations located ~1000 km westward away from the Tohoku earthquake epicenter. They have still been continuing. Vertical coseismic crustal offsets were not detected in the far-field zone. Change of the sign of the earth’s surface tilt in the far field zone might be used as a long-term precursor of catastrophic earthquakes in the subduction zone. For more reliable and detailed understanding of the relationship between geodynamic processes in the far-field and subduction zone it is extremely important to perform more dense continuous GPS observation in the region under study.

Small coseismic offsets detectable using GPS techniques were found more than 2300 km away from the Great Tohoku 2011 earthquake epicenter. Area of the most intense far-field co- and postseismic deformations with the maximum offset values exceeding 40 and 18 mm, respectively, extends westward from Honshu Island to the Korean Peninsula, northeastern China and southern Far East Russia. Sakhalin Island does not exhibit notable displacements caused by the earthquake, in contrast to the adjacent territories. A rectangular fault model with uniform slip was developed based on the GPS-detected far-field coseismic displacements using the spherically layered Earth assumption. Both far- and near-field coseismic deformations are generally well described by a single-segment rupture of 200 × 96 km2, characterized by thrust slip with minor strike-slip component of about 33 m and by the seismic moment value of 1.9·1022 N·m (Mw = 8.8), which roughly constrains the major slip area. The resultant compact fault geometry revealed that the main portion of the seismic moment had been realized in a relatively small-sized rupture segment. The sensitivity of far-field GPS data to the major slip area might also be used in the development of a seismically generated giant tsunami warning system.

The present tectonics of Northeast Asia has been extensively investigated during the last 12 yr by using GPS techniques. Nevertheless, crustal velocity field of the southeast of Russia near the northeastern boundaries of the hypothesized Amurian microplate has not been defined yet. The GPS data collected between 1997 February and 2009 April at sites of the regional geodynamic network were used to estimate the recent geodynamic activity of this area. The calculated GPS velocities indicate almost internal (between network sites) and external (with respect to the Eurasian tectonic plate) stability of the investigated region. We have not found clear evidences of any notable present-day tectonic activity of the Central Sikhote-Alin Fault as a whole. This fault is the main tectonic unit that determines the geological structure of the investigated region. The obtained results speak in favour of the existence of a few separate blocks and a more sophisticated structure of the proposed Amurian microplate in comparison with an indivisible plate approach.