Earth & Environment - Friday, May 7, 2010 10:44 - 0 Comments

Aseismic creep may lower earthquake hazard

The 2007 Pisco earthquake ruptured two patches (indicated by the contour lines of seismic slip in red) of the plate interface along which the Nazca plate slides under South America at about 6 cm/yr (red arrows). The black dots show the aftershocks triggered by this quake. Two other large earthquakes had ruptured the plate interface in 1974 and 1996 (green areas). (Credit: Caltech Tectonics Observatory)

CALTECH (US)—Using data from GPS stations, researchers analyzed plate slippage following the magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck in Central Peru in August 2007, killing more than 500 people. What the team discovered ran contrary to long-held assumptions about plate movement in the area—and suggests a model for predicting earthquake patterns. Continue…