Critic
06-16-2004, 09:15 AM
Article extract >>
The devastating earthquake at Bam, Iran, in 2003 was caused by the rupture of a rare, hidden fault that is invisible at the surface, experts say.
This fault runs directly under the city of Bam and, combined with the density of settlement, may have been responsible for the high death toll.
Data shows the main shock on this fault was followed by a smaller one 10 seconds later at a fault 5km away.
Details have been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
This is - as far as I know - the first well-documented case of a blind strike-slip fault
Dr Eric Fielding, JPL
The magnitude 6.5 earthquake destroyed the town in the southeast of the country on 26 December last year, killing more than 26,000 people.
'Blind fault'
A fault is a fracture in the Earth along which blocks of crust on either side have moved relative to one another.
When fractures do not rupture all the way to the surface they are known as blind faults. These features are usually associated with thrust faults, which are formed by compressive stresses.
End extract <<
For more info :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3809375.stm
Opinions?? Comments?/
Critic,
The devastating earthquake at Bam, Iran, in 2003 was caused by the rupture of a rare, hidden fault that is invisible at the surface, experts say.
This fault runs directly under the city of Bam and, combined with the density of settlement, may have been responsible for the high death toll.
Data shows the main shock on this fault was followed by a smaller one 10 seconds later at a fault 5km away.
Details have been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
This is - as far as I know - the first well-documented case of a blind strike-slip fault
Dr Eric Fielding, JPL
The magnitude 6.5 earthquake destroyed the town in the southeast of the country on 26 December last year, killing more than 26,000 people.
'Blind fault'
A fault is a fracture in the Earth along which blocks of crust on either side have moved relative to one another.
When fractures do not rupture all the way to the surface they are known as blind faults. These features are usually associated with thrust faults, which are formed by compressive stresses.
End extract <<
For more info :: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3809375.stm
Opinions?? Comments?/
Critic,