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Link to original content: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27885027?dopt=Abstract
Mega-earthquakes rupture flat megathrusts - PubMed Skip to main page content
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. 2016 Nov 25;354(6315):1027-1031.
doi: 10.1126/science.aag0482.

Mega-earthquakes rupture flat megathrusts

Quentin Bletery  1 , Amanda M Thomas  2 , Alan W Rempel  2 , Leif Karlstrom  2 , Anthony Sladen  3 , Louis De Barros  3
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Mega-earthquakes rupture flat megathrusts

Quentin Bletery et al. Science. .

Abstract

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.

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