Due to the subduction of oceanic plates beneath overriding continental plates, large coupling areas can form in the shallow region of a subduction zone. The rapid rupture of the coupling zone is directly related to the occurrence of large earthquakes at the plate boundaries. The earthquakes within the subducting plate near the trench axis (i.e., outer rise earthquakes) can be used to infer large-scale stress regimes around the interplate coupled region. Over one hundred MW ≥ 6.0 outer rise earthquakes are listed in the Harvard University centroid moment tensor catalog dating back to 1990. We discuss individual correlations between large outer rise seismicity and interplate seismicity for three regions: the Kurile Islands, northeastern Japan, and the northern Tonga. We find that both tensional and compressional outer rise earthquakes have occurred in strong coupled subduction zones. The reverse faulting outer rise events tend to occur before, and the normal faulting outer rise events tend to occur after a large nearby interplate earthquake. The stress regime around the plate subduction zone varies both temporally and spatially due to the cyclic influences of megathrust earthquakes.