Release of mineral-bound water prior to subduction tied to shallow seismogenic slip off Sumatra

Andre Hüpers, Marta E. Torres, Satoko Owari, Lisa C McNeill, Brandon Dugan, Timothy Henstock, Kitty L Milliken, Katerina E Petronotis, J Backman, Sylvain Bourlange, Farid Chemale Jr, Wenhuang Chen, Tobias A Colson, Marina C G Frederik, Gilles Guèrin, Mari Hamahashi, Brian M. House, Tamara N Jeppson, Sarah Kachovich, Abby R KenigsbergMebae Kuranaga, Steffen Kutterolf, Freya L Mitchison, Hideki Mukoyoshi, Nisha Nair, Kevin T. Pickering, Hugo F A Pouderoux, Yehua Shan, Insun Song, Paola Vannucchi, Peter J Vrolijk, Tao Yang, Xixi Zhao

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Abstract

Trying to understand where major earthquakes and tsunamis might occur requires analysis of the sediments pouring into a subduction zone. Thick sediments were expected to limit earthquake and tsunami size in the Sumatran megathrust event in 2004, but the magnitude 9.2 earthquake defied expectations. Hüpers et al. analyzed sediments recovered from the Sumatran megathrust. They found evidence of sediment dehydration, which increased fault strength and allowed for the much larger earthquake to occur. Thus, models of other subduction zones, such as the Gulf of Alaska, may underestimate the maximum earthquake magnitude and tsunami risk.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)841-844
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume356
Issue number6340
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 May 2017

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