Tectonics and climate-driven surface processes govern the evolution of Earth's surface
topography. Topographic change in turn influences lithospheric deformation, but the
elementary scale at which this feedback can be effective is unclear. Here we show that it
operates in a single weather-driven erosion event. In 2009, typhoon Morakot delivered~ 3 m
of precipitation in southern Taiwan, causing exceptional landsliding and erosion. This event
was followed by a step increase in the shallow (< 15 km depth) earthquake frequency lasting …