Illustration of the Cascadia subduction zone, a region where the patterns examined in this study play out. (Credit: Carie Frantz, Wikimedia Commons)

The ripple effect of small earthquakes near major faults

Monazite crystals from samples associate professor Sean Regan gathered in the Coast Mountains near Juneau. Images courtesy of Sean Regan

Denali Fault tore apart ancient joining of two landmasses

Magnified through a microscope, diatoms, which are a type of siliceous microalgae preserved within sediment, helped the researchers determine the salinity levels of the core samples. Photo courtesy of Jessica DePaolis.

Subduction zone splay faults compound hazards of great earthquakes

Researchers used unmanned aerial vehicle images superimposed on centimeter-resolution topography to study the surface rupture of the 2021 magnitude 7.4 Maduo earthquake in China. This image shows the fault scarp, tensional cracks on the hanging wall, and the left-laterally offset channel. Credit: Yanxiu Shao

Fault maturity or orientation: Which matters more for quakes?

A cut slice of altered mantle rock. (Photo by: Solvin Zankl)

Researchers studying ocean transform faults, describe a previously unknown part of...

The modern Seattle fault zone cuts directly through the densely populated Puget lowlands, including Seattle and its metro area. Fifty million years ago, the continent tore in two here, setting the geologic stage for the modern faults, according to a new Tectonics study. Credit: Washington Geological Survey.

A new origin story for deadly Seattle fault

Credit: Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh0150

New 3D images give never-seen-before views inside New Zealand’s largest fault

The new study in Geophysical Research Letters shows a previously undiscovered change in tectonic plate thickness across the Denali Fault in Alaska impacts where it is located, shedding light on how major faults and earthquakes occur. Credit: Isabella Gama and Karen Fischer.

Researchers uncover secrets on how Alaska’s Denali Fault formed

A seismogram of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami recorded at Weston Observatory in Massachusetts, USA. Credit: Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Finding faults deeply stressful

Outcrop of carbonate-altered mantle rock in the San Andreas Fault area. A recent study shows that carbon sequestration in mantle rocks may prevent large earthquakes in parts of the San Andreas Fault. (Photo by Frieder Klein, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Geological carbon sequestration in mantle rocks prevents large earthquakes in parts...

California’s San Andreas Fault. The “creeping” central section, subject of a new study, is in yellow. Rock samples from almost 2 miles down were taken at the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth, or SAFOD, marked by the red star. (Adapted from Coffey et al., Geology, 2022)

A slow-motion section of the San Andreas fault may not be...

Fault zone with broken rock inside stippled lines and faulting directions of each rock segment outlined by half arrows. Photo credit: Henrik Drake. Illustration: Mikael Tillberg.

How fault lines in a kitchen sink are changing what we...

Using a method to better locate the source of weak tremors from regions with complex geological features, researchers found that many tremors originate from the shear zone, an area of high fluid pressure, in the Nankai Trough, which is schematically shown here with structures of tectonic plates and fault lines.

Making sense of commotion under the ocean to locate tremors near...

Looking at the Toaroha River, near New Zealand’s Alpine Fault. | GNS Science

Seismic activity of New Zealand’s alpine fault more complex than suspected

San Andreas Fault

Deep underground forces explain quakes on San Andreas Fault

Graduate student Mike Duvall is pictured here in southeastern Nepal during fieldwork in 2017. Image credit: John Waldron

Scientists discover fault system in southeastern Nepal

San Andreas Fault Zone

Chance of big San Andreas earthquake increased by Ridgecrest temblors, study...

Fig. 1 Map of the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and surrounding area. (A) Transpressional tectonic setting of the northeastern South Island of New Zealand. (B) Map of surface ruptures from the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, shown in bold black lines with the Papatea fault in red (8, 28). Dots represent scaled relative energy release from back-projection results (15) and are colored by time since rupture onset. Mapped active faults that did not rupture during the Kaikōura event are indicated by thin black lines (28). Credit: Science Advances 02 Oct 2019: Vol. 5, no. 10, eaax5703, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax5703

Unusual fault rupture during Kaikōura quake

Machu Pichu. Detailed mapping indicates the World Heritage Site’s location and layout were dictated by the underlying geological faults. Photo taken 5 Nov. 2010; credit: Rualdo Menegat.

Machu Picchu: Ancient Incan sanctuary intentionally built on faults

A fresh surface rupture of the Kekerengu fault, taken 4 days after the Kaikoura earthquake, with lead author Jesse Kearse leaning next to a curved slickenline (the subject of this article). Photo credit - Professor Tim Little (Victoria University of Wellington).

Curved slickenlines preserve the direction of rupture propagation

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