Indiana University Bloomington researchers find natural brakes under Gofar fault
Scientists discovered natural brakes deep under the Pacific Ocean that may help prevent massive earthquakes.
At the Gofar transform fault, about 1609km west of Ecuador, magnitude-6 quakes happen like clockwork every five to six years, but they do not appear to get much bigger.
Researchers from Indiana University Bloomington found that special barrier zones inside the fault act like speed bumps, stopping these quakes from turning into something much worse.
Dilatancy strengthening stiffens water filled rocks
These barrier zones are spots where the fault splits into smaller cracks and traps seawater.
When an earthquake hits, pressure drops in these water-filled rocks make the area stiffen up—a process called dilatancy strengthening.
This basically puts on the brakes and keeps ruptures from growing.
Seafloor experiments even showed bursts of tiny tremors before big quakes, then silence as everything resets.
As the lead author put it, this gives us a new look at how Earth's hidden structures control earthquakes under the ocean.