| A
mere three months after the giant Sumatra-Andaman earthquake
and tsunami of December 2004, tragedy struck again when
another great earthquake (shown in red) shook the area
directly to the south, killing over two thousand Indonesians.
The Mw 8.7 Nias-Simeulue earthquake just over a year
ago was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded:
only six others have had greater magnitudes.
A team from the California Institute of Technology,
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and Scripps
Institution of Oceanography reconstruct the fault rupture
that caused the 28 March 2005 event from detailed measurements
of ground displacements. Their analysis illuminates
the pattern and magnitude of fault slip, the relationship
between the 2004 and 2005 ruptures, and the surface
deformation that is likely to accompany future megathrust
rupture south of the equator. |
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