In this study, we propose a method to determine dislocation Love numbers using co-seismic gravity changes from GRACE measurements. First, we present an observation equation to model GRACE observations taking into account the effect of ocean water mass redistribution. The L-curve method was used to determine the regulation parameter in the inversion of the geopotential dislocation Love numbers constrained by an a priori preliminary reference Earth
(PREM) model. Then, the GRACE data error was estimated in the study area to evaluate the uncertainty of our inversion, and our inverted Love numbers are significantly deviated from the PREM ones even the uncertainty is considered. Finally, GRACE data observed for the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake (Mw = 9.0) were used to estimate the gravity dislocation Love numbers, considering three different fault-slip models. The results show that the inverted dislocation Love numbers deviate from PREM model, especially for k32 l1 and k33
l0− k22 l0 , which indicates that the inverted dislocation Love numbers can reflect the local structure that is different from the global average. This inconsistency is possibly because that the cold denser
oceanic slab dives from the Japanese Trench into the softer asthenosphere, and then changes the local density here higher than the global average. And with these sets of Love numbers, we can invert for more accurate fault model and analyse focal rupture mechanism when some other earthquake in this area occurs in the future. This study provides a new approach to invert for dislocation Love numbers linked with local geological information.