Sunda_megathrust

Sunda megathrust

Sunda megathrust

Geological feature


The Sunda megathrust is a fault that extends approximately 5,500 km (3300 mi) from Myanmar (Burma) in the north, running along the southwestern side of Sumatra, to the south of Java and Bali before terminating near Australia.[1] It is a megathrust, located at a convergent plate boundary where it forms the interface between the overriding Eurasian plate and the subducting Indo-Australian plate. It is one of the most seismogenic structures on Earth, being responsible for many great and giant earthquakes, including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed over 227,000 people. The Sunda megathrust can be divided into the Andaman Megathrust, Sumatra(n) Megathrust and Java(n) Megathrust. The Bali-Sumbawa segment is much less active and therefore does not have the "megathrust" term associated with it.

Variation of seismicity with depth across the Sunda Trench subduction zone, low-angle part is the Sunda megathrust – September 2007 Sumatra earthquake shown by star

Tectonic setting

Plate tectonic setting of Sunda megathrust

The subducting plate consists of two protoplates, the Indian and Australian plates. Similarly, the overriding plate consists of two microplates, the Sunda and Burma plates. The relative motion of the subducting and overriding plates varies slightly along strike due to these complexities but is always strongly oblique. The strike-slip component of the oblique convergence is accommodated by displacement on the Great Sumatran fault, while the dip-slip component is taken up by the Sunda megathrust.

Megathrust geometry

The Sunda megathrust is curviplanar, forming an arc in map view and, at least in Sumatra, increasing in dip from 5°-7° near the trench, then increasing gradually from 15°-20° beneath the Mentawai Islands to about 30° below the coastline of Sumatra.[2]

Earthquakes

Rupture areas for the 1861, 1833 and 2004 earthquakes and area of main shock and aftershocks for the 2005 event, showing similarity to 1861 quake

At this plate boundary, earthquakes occur along the Sunda megathrust and within both the subducting and overriding plates. The largest earthquakes are generated when the megathrust itself ruptures. Studies of both recent and historical earthquakes show that the megathrust is segmented.[1] The largest earthquakes occur on separate 'patches' along the megathrust surface (1797, 1833, 1861, 2004, 2005 & 2007), with smaller events occurring at the boundaries between these patches (1935, 1984, 2000 & 2002).[1] The rupture area of the 1861 event appears to be very similar to that for the 2005 event, suggesting that it can be regarded as a repeat event. The 2007 event is interpreted to be a partial failure of the rupture area of the 1833 event.[1]

The 2004 earthquake ruptured an enormous segment of the megathrust surface. Research into evidence for previous events of this size suggests that they are rare, with two candidate earlier events occurring soon after AD 1290–1400 and AD 780–990.[3] The Java-Bali segment of the megathrust does not appear to be associated with great earthquakes, possibly due to mainly aseismic slip.[4]

List of Sunda megathrust earthquakes

This table lists Sunda Megathrust quakes with magnitudes of 7 or greater, or any known to have caused deaths. Historic records before 2004 are incomplete.

More information Date/Time‡, Location ...

References

  1. Sieh, Kerry (March 2007). "The Sunda megathrust: past, present and future". Journal of Earthquake and Tsunami. 01 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1142/S179343110700002X.
  2. Chlieh, M.; Avouac J.P.; Sieh K.; Natawidjaja D.H.; Galetzka J. (2008). "Heterogeneous coupling of the Sumatran megathrust constrained by geodetic and paleogeodetic measurements" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 113 (B05305): B05305. Bibcode:2008JGRB..113.5305C. doi:10.1029/2007jb004981. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
  3. Monecke, K.; Finger W.; Klarer D.; Kongko W.; McAdoo B.G.; Moore A.L.; Sudrajat S.U. (2008). "A 1,000-year sediment record of tsunami recurrence in northern Sumatra". Nature. 455 (7217): 1232–1234. Bibcode:2008Natur.455.1232M. doi:10.1038/nature07374. S2CID 4420620.
  4. Newcomb, K.R.; McCann W.R. (1987). "Seismic history and seismotectonics of the Sunda Arc" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 92 (B1): 421–439. Bibcode:1987JGR....92..421N. doi:10.1029/JB092iB01p00421. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  5. Kerry Sieh* (2006-08-15). "Sieh, K. 2006. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 364 no. 1845 1947–1963". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 364 (1845): 1947–1963. Bibcode:2006RSPTA.364.1947S. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.694.6737. doi:10.1098/rsta.2006.1807. PMID 16844643. S2CID 8562675.
  6. Suleyman Nalbant; John McCloskey; Sandy Steacy; Mairead NicBhloscaidh; Shane Murphy (2013). "Interseismic coupling, stress evolution, and earthquake slip on the Sunda megathrust" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 40 (16): 4204–4208. Bibcode:2013GeoRL..40.4204N. doi:10.1002/grl.50776. S2CID 59068187.
  7. Pankaj Agrawal; Manish Shrikhande (2006). Earthquake resistant design of structures. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 978-81-203-2892-1.
  8. "Research Group on The December 26, 2004 Earthquake Tsunami Disaster of Indian Ocean". Drs.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  9. Martin S.S.; Li L.; Okal E.A.; Morin J.; Tetteroo A.E.G.; Switzer A.D.; Sieh K.E. (2019-03-26). "Reassessment of the 1907 Sumatra "Tsunami Earthquake" Based on Macroseismic, Seismological, and Tsunami Observations, and Modeling". Pure and Applied Geophysics. 176 (7): 2831–2868. Bibcode:2019PApGe.176.2831M. doi:10.1007/s00024-019-02134-2. hdl:10356/136833. ISSN 1420-9136. S2CID 135197944.
  10. IISEENET (Information Network of Earthquake disaster Prevention Technologies). "Search Parameters". Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  11. Rivera, L.; Sieh, K.; Helmberger, D.; Natawidjaja, D. (2002). "A Comparative Study of the Sumatran Subduction-Zone Earthquakes of 1935 and 1984" (PDF). Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 92 (5): 1721–1736. Bibcode:2002BuSSA..92.1721R. doi:10.1785/0120010106. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  12. "Magnitude 7.4 - SIMEULUE, INDONESIA". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 2010-01-15.
  13. "Magnitude 7.2 - KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA". Archived from the original on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  14. "Magnitude 7.2 - NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA". Archived from the original on 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  15. "Magnitude 7.2 - OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13.

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