Seismic experiments provide new clues to earthquake wave directionality and growth speed

In recent years, seismologists thought they were getting a handle on how an earthquake tends to rupture in a preferred direction along big strike-slip faults like the San Andreas. This is important because the direction of rupture has a profound influence on the distribution of ground shaking. But a new study could undermine their confidence a bit.
Reporting in the April 29 issue of the journal Science, researchers from the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University discuss new controlled laboratory experiments using dissimilar polymer plates to mimic Earth's crusts. The results show that the direction of rupture that controls the pattern of destruction is less predictable than recently thought.

If you want to include this story in your blog, copy and paste this formatted text:

<p><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news3923.html">Seismic experiments provide new clues to earthquake wave directionality and growth speed</a></p> <p>In recent years, seismologists thought they were getting a handle on how an earthquake tends to rupture in a preferred direction along big strike-slip faults like the San Andreas. This is important because the direction of rupture has a profound influence on the distribution of ground shaking. But a new study could undermine their confidence a bit. <br>Reporting in the April 29 issue of the journal <i>Science</i>, researchers from the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University discuss new controlled laboratory experiments using dissimilar polymer plates to mimic Earth's crusts. The results show that the direction of rupture that controls the pattern of destruction is less predictable than recently thought.</p>