Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bletery, Quentin
• Thomas, Amanda M.
• Rempel, Alan W.
• Karlstrom, Leif
• Sladen, Anthony
• De Barros, Louis

Titel

Mega-earthquakes rupture flat megathrusts

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2016-11, Vol.354 (6315), p.1027-1031

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Quelle

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman and 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquakes highlighted gaps in our understanding of mega-earthquake rupture processes and the factors controlling their global distribution: A fast convergence rate and young buoyant lithosphere are not required to produce mega-earthquakes. We calculated the curvature along the major subduction zones of the world, showing that mega-earthquakes preferentially rupture flat (low-curvature) interfaces. A simplified analytic model demonstrates that heterogeneity in shear strength increases with curvature. Shear strength on flat megathrusts is more homogeneous, and hence more likely to be exceeded simultaneously over large areas, than on highly curved faults.