Lab earthquakes show how grains at fault boundaries lead to major quakes: Faults once thought to be ‘creeping’ yet stable may be at risk for big ruptures
By simulating earthquakes in a lab, Caltech engineers have provided strong experimental support for a form of earthquake propagation now thought responsible for the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that devastated the coast of Japan in 2011. Along some fault lines, which are the boundaries of tectonic plates, a fine-grained gravel is formed as the plates grind against […]