Are Branch Faults the “On-Ramps” that Lead to Great Continental Transform Earthquakes?

map of historic and Feb 2023 Turkiye earthquakes

25 September 2024–The five largest continental transform earthquakes since 2000 all originated on a branch of the main fault—and two researchers predict that the next great earthquake of this type will also get its start on a branch or splay fault. Last year’s magnitude 7.8 Pazarcık earthquake in Türkiye was … Continue Reading »

Precariously Balanced Rocks in New York, Vermont Provide Limits on Earthquake Shaking

10 September 2024–Five boulders, delivered by glacier and balancing delicately on rocky pedestals in northern New York and Vermont, can help define long-term maximum shaking intensity of earthquakes in the region. Seismologists examine the fragility of precariously balanced rocks, or PBRs, to determine the intensity of shaking would be needed … Continue Reading »

At Work: Voon Hui Lai

4 September 2024–When Voon Hui Lai came to Australian National University as a postdoc, her department had just acquired a DAS interrogator “and I was basically tasked to make this thing work,” she recalled. “It was my first experience in deploying these really dense seismic sensors.” Distributed acoustic sensing or … Continue Reading »