Shocking New Footage: Earthquake Fault Cracking Unveils Unexpected Discovery!

A groundbreaking video has emerged, capturing the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake—a first in history. This footage highlights something remarkable: the ground isn’t just cracking straight; it curves during the rupture.

Geophysicist Jesse Kearse from Kyoto University was initially taken aback by this finding. “When I watched the video for the first time, I felt chills,” he noted. During one of his later viewings, he noticed the crack didn’t move in a straight line. Instead, it curbs, which aligns with his research on fault slips.

This unique footage was filmed near Thazi, Myanmar, during a magnitude 7.7 quake on March 28. Although ground ruptures happen frequently during large earthquakes, they’ve never been documented on video until now. The video shows the ground shaking, followed by a visible crack. Kearse, alongside his colleague Yoshihiro Kaneko, closely analyzed the video and found that the crack first curves sharply and then accelerates, reaching a peak speed of 10.5 feet per second.

The curvature occurs because the stresses affecting the fault at the surface are weaker than those deeper in the Earth. “Understanding these curvatures gives clues about how ruptures unfold,” Kearse explained. It can help predict future earthquakes by revealing patterns from the past.

This type of research isn’t just fascinating; it has real-world implications. According to a survey by the United Nations, over 1.5 billion people live in earthquake-prone areas. Being able to better predict ground ruptures can save lives and minimize damage during seismic events.

The team shared their findings on Earth ArXiv in June. Though their research is still awaiting peer review, the implications of this discovery could fundamentally change how geologists and seismologists approach earthquake risks.

This is a pivotal moment in understanding how earthquakes behave, making the video not just a historic document but a tool for potentially saving lives in the future.

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