{"id":1088,"date":"2019-12-10T09:39:19","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T09:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1088"},"modified":"2019-12-10T09:39:19","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T09:39:19","slug":"the-slow-earthquakes-that-we-cannot-feel-may-help-protect-against-the-devastating-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1088\/the-slow-earthquakes-that-we-cannot-feel-may-help-protect-against-the-devastating-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018slow earthquakes\u2019 that we cannot feel may help protect against the devastating ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earthquakes are sudden and their shaking can be devastating. But about 20 years ago, a new type of earthquake was discovered. We cannot feel them, and geologists still know very little about them, such as how often they occur.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Regular earthquakes occur when rock underground breaks along a fault \u2013 a crack in the Earth\u2019s crust that commonly forms a boundary between tectonic plates \u2013 and slips at a speed of about a metre per second.<\/p>\n

Previously, it was thought that unless there\u2019s an earthquake, faults move very slowly, at fingernail growth rate. Then, better earthquake-detection instruments revealed that there is a whole range of slip speeds in between. These are known as slow earthquakes and can last days, months or sometimes even years.<\/p>\n

\u2018Earth movement accelerates but it doesn’t accelerate to the point where it makes an earthquake that can be felt on the surface,\u2019 said Dr Ake Fagereng, a geologist at Cardiff University in the UK.<\/p>\n

There are still many questions to be answered about slow earthquakes though. How they happen, for example, still isn\u2019t clear, as well as what the repercussions might be.<\/p>\n

Dr Fagereng and his colleagues are especially interested in slow earthquakes\u2019 relationship to regular ones and the conditions that give rise to these events, which they are investigating as part of a project called\u00a0MICA<\/a>. \u2018If we can figure that out, then we can hopefully also get at whether those conditions can change so that an earthquake speeds up,\u2019 said Dr Fagereng.<\/p>\n

In addition to drilling into an offshore area in New Zealand that experiences slow earthquakes, the team has been visiting regions in Japan, Namibia, Cyprus and the UK that would have experienced them in the past. Since they occur deep below the surface of the Earth, which is hard to study, the researchers have chosen areas that were once at the appropriate depths and conditions but have been brought to the surface over time due to erosion and uplift.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are looking for structures that formed (as a result of slow earthquakes) and what they tell us about how the rocks accommodated that slip,\u2019 said Dr Fagereng.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exposed
Exposed areas of rock on Kyushu Island, southern Japan, are among those being studied by researchers for evidence of past slow earthquakes. Image credit – Ake Fagareng<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Creep<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their theory is that slow earthquakes occur when creep \u2013 tiny, continuous movements in a fault \u2013 accelerates throughout the fault zone, which can be several kilometres thick. Their field observations showed that a fault can be made up of different rock types of varying strength, such as solid basalt and granite and weaker clay-rich sediment. They suspected that stronger rocks start to fracture as creep speeds up due to weaker rocks moving around them but couldn\u2019t explain exactly why.<\/p>\n

Using information from their fieldwork, they\u2019ve now developed a mathematical model to reproduce their theory and describe some of the physics behind it. A mixture of rocks with different deformation styles \u2013 such as breaking or bending \u2013 seems to be key. A proportion of creeping weak rock is required, as well as locally high enough pressure to cause some rock to rupture.<\/p>\n

\u2018A possibility for these slow earthquakes is that you have a thick creeping zone with embedded stronger (rock) bits,\u2019 said Dr Fagereng.<\/p>\n

The team is planning to follow up with more field observations to refine their model. They still can\u2019t explain why slow earthquakes occur at particular locations, for example, and why they are much more predictable than regular earthquakes, often occurring at set intervals.<\/p>\n

Dr Fagereng thinks that findings from the project could help improve earthquake and tsunami forecasting. Last year, researchers found the first\u00a0evidence of a slow earthquake preceding a regular earthquake\u00a0<\/a>in an area west of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the US. But the link between the two types of tremors isn\u2019t well understood. In some cases, slow earthquakes could also alleviate stress that would otherwise build up and cause a larger earthquake.<\/p>\n

\u2018We’re hoping to get somewhere on what the relation is between slow earthquakes and regular earthquakes,\u2019 said Dr Fagereng. \u2018And then that could potentially feed into models for what size earthquake you can get in different regions.\u2019<\/p>\n

Lab experiments could also shed light on the physics of slow earthquakes. Dr Nicolas Brantut from University College London in the UK and his colleagues are using bespoke machines that can deform rock samples at high pressures and temperatures to mimic conditions deep below the surface of the Earth.<\/p>\n

Brittle-plastic transition<\/strong><\/p>\n

His team is particularly interested in the brittle-plastic transition, a region about 10 to 15 kilometres below the surface where the behaviour of rocks changes. Above this zone they are brittle, whereas beneath it they flow due to the high temperature and pressure which increase with depth. \u2018The brittle part is where you have earthquakes,\u2019 said Dr Brantut.<\/p>\n

However, slow earthquakes seem to occur\u00a0in the brittle-plastic zone, based on seismological observations. In many cases, they also take place at the same temperature and pressure conditions found in this region. But so far, slow slip events have typically been modelled based on the frictional forces at a fault without taking into account the peculiarities of the brittle-plastic transition zone where rocks start to flow.<\/p>\n

\u2018The interactions between friction mechanisms and plastic flow mechanisms are not understood well enough to rule them out as mechanisms for slow earthquakes,\u2019 said Dr Brantut.<\/p>\n

As part of the\u00a0RockDEaF project<\/a>, Dr Brantut and his team are investigating the motion of rocks at the brittle-plastic transition. They are replicating the conditions in this region on pieces of rock centimetres long to see whether they fracture or flow. \u2018We want to understand how these mechanisms compete with each other,\u2019 said Dr Brantut.<\/p>\n

Simulating<\/strong><\/p>\n

So far, the team has examined the brittle-plastic transition by simulating a fault in the Earth\u2019s crust in a block of marble. They investigated the behaviour of the rock at different pressures and were expecting to find a sharp transition between brittle and plastic behaviour.<\/p>\n

However, they were surprised to find that both behaviours occurred simultaneously under a wide range of pressure conditions. \u2018This is something that I think nobody has realised before,\u2019 said Dr Brantut. \u2018The fact that we can have both friction and deformation in a continuum at the same time.\u2019<\/p>\n

Dr Brantut thinks that results from the project could help pin down where slow earthquakes could occur by determining the conditions and properties of rock that are required.<\/p>\n

But they could also provide new clues about the depths at which regular earthquakes originate. Temperature below the surface of the Earth increases as a function of depth, which is typically an increase of 10\u00b0C to 40\u00b0C per kilometre in the crust. An earthquake\u2019s lowest point of origin is thought to coincide with depths that reach 600\u00b0C, since rocks become supple when they surpass this temperature and therefore can\u2019t fracture and generate an earthquake. However better understanding of the transition in rock behaviour should help determine if temperature is the deciding factor.<\/p>\n

\u2018We should understand more about what really controls how deep we can expect earthquakes to propagate,\u2019 said Dr Brantut.<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.<\/em><\/p>\n

Originally published on Horizon<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earthquakes are sudden and their shaking can be devastating. But about 20 years ago, a new type of earthquake was discovered. We cannot feel them, and geologists still know very little about them, such as how often they occur. Regular earthquakes occur when rock underground breaks along a fault \u2013 a crack in the Earth\u2019s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":1089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[337,223,79,24],"class_list":["post-1088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-energy-environment","tag-earthquakes","tag-geology","tag-research","tag-science"],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u2018slow earthquakes\u2019 that we cannot feel may help protect against the devastating ones - Horizon Magazine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1088\/the-slow-earthquakes-that-we-cannot-feel-may-help-protect-against-the-devastating-ones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u2018slow earthquakes\u2019 that we cannot feel may help protect against the devastating ones\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earthquakes are sudden and their shaking can be devastating. 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As advances in research and technology make these systems increasingly effective, they\u2019re vital to reducing an earthquake\u2019s human, social and economic toll. \u00a0 Damaging earthquakes can strike at any time. While\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/11\/2Marco-Iacobucci-Epp-Shutterstock_473628328.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/11\/2Marco-Iacobucci-Epp-Shutterstock_473628328.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/11\/2Marco-Iacobucci-Epp-Shutterstock_473628328.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2693,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2693\/deadly-earthquakes-trigger-hunt-for-speedier-alerts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1088,"position":1},"title":"Deadly earthquakes trigger hunt for speedier alerts","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"March 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Researchers in Europe have identified an underground signal that may be a precursor to strong quakes. By Vedrana Simi\u010devi\u0107 Dr Quentin Bletery has some good news regarding an all-too-often gloomy subject: earthquakes. A researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, or IRD, Bletery thinks it might one\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/03\/6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/03\/6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/03\/6.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/03\/6.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/03\/6.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/03\/6.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1707,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1707\/what-happens-below-earths-surface-when-the-most-powerful-earthquakes-occur\/","url_meta":{"origin":1088,"position":2},"title":"What happens below Earth\u2019s surface when the most powerful earthquakes occur","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"April 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"At 03:34 local time on 27 February 2010, Chile was struck by one of the most powerful earthquakes in a century. The shock triggered a tsunami, which devastated coastal communities. The combined events killed more than\u00a0500 people. So powerful was the shaking that, by one NASA estimate,\u00a0it shifted Earth\u2019s axis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/marco-reyes-oi4Rwn4nfvk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/marco-reyes-oi4Rwn4nfvk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/marco-reyes-oi4Rwn4nfvk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/marco-reyes-oi4Rwn4nfvk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/marco-reyes-oi4Rwn4nfvk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/04\/marco-reyes-oi4Rwn4nfvk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3132,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/3132\/from-protecting-patients-to-predicting-disasters-ai-supercharges-nuclear-tech\/","url_meta":{"origin":1088,"position":3},"title":"From protecting patients to predicting disasters: AI supercharges nuclear tech","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"June 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"EU-funded researchers are using AI to transform nuclear technology, making medical scans safer, streamlining nuclear plant maintenance and allowing earlier prediction of earthquakes. By Tom Cassauwers Whenever you have a scan at a hospital, both you and the operators are exposed to a small amount of radiation. For hospital staff,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Researchers are using AI to improve nuclear technology across a wide range of fields, from healthcare to earthquake prediction. \u00a9 bigjom jom, Shutterstock.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/24.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/24.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/24.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":457,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/457\/plate-tectonics-observatory-to-create-seismic-shift-in-earthquake-research\/","url_meta":{"origin":1088,"position":4},"title":"Plate tectonics observatory to create seismic shift in earthquake research","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"September 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We may never be able to entirely predict earthquakes such as those that hit central Italy in 2016, but we could better assess how they\u2019re going to play out by joining up data from different scientific fields in a new Europe-wide observatory, say scientists. In 2016 and early 2017, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/amatrice.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/amatrice.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/amatrice.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/amatrice.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/amatrice.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/09\/amatrice.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3307,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/3307\/turning-undersea-cables-into-a-global-natural-hazard-and-environmental-monitoring-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":1088,"position":5},"title":"Turning undersea cables into a global natural hazard and environmental monitoring system","author":"Horizon Magazine","date":"November 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"EU-funded researchers are exploring how undersea communication cables can double-up as environmental and seismic sensors \u2013 a potential game-changer for early warning systems. By Michael Allen Beneath the world\u2019s oceans, a silent revolution is underway. More than 1.48 million kilometres of underwater fibre-optic cables carry almost all global internet and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Earth, Energy & Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Earth, Energy & Environment","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/category\/earth-energy-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The vast global network of underwater fibre optic cables could help monitor the ocean floor\u2019s environmental and structural changes. \u00a9 Sky-Blue Creative, Shutterstock.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/04.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/04.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/04.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/04.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/318"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}