First video of an earthquake fault cracking has revealed another surprise
A first-of-its-kind video showing the ground cracking during a major earthquake is even more remarkable than previously thought. It not only captures a ground motion never caught on video before but also shows the crack curving as it moves.
This curvy movement has been inferred from the geological record and from "slickenlines" — scrape marks on the sides of faults — but it had never been seen in action, geophysicist Jesse Kearse, a postdoctoral researcher currently at Kyoto University in Japan, said in a statement.
"Instead of things moving straight across the video screen, they moved along a curved path that has a convexity downwards, which instantly started bells ringing in my head," Kearse said, "because some of my previous research has been specifically on curvature of fault slip, but from the geological record."
The video — captured by a security camera near Thazi, Myanmar — shows the ground rupturing during a magnitude 7.7 quake that hit the region on March 28. It shows the ground shaking, followed by a crack opening up. These ground ruptures are relatively common during big quakes, but they'd never been caught on video.
Kearse said he watched the video with chills down his spine shortly after it was uploaded to YouTube. On his fifth or sixth viewing, he noticed that the crack was curvy. He and his colleague at Kyoto University, geophysicist Yoshihiro Kaneko, then analyzed the video more closely. They found that the crack curves sharply at first and then accelerates to a peak velocity of about 10.5 feet per second (3.2 meters per second) of movement, slipping a total of 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) in 1.3 seconds. After hitting its top velocity, the crack straightens and slows.
The findings suggest that the curvature happens because stresses on the fault right at the ground surface are lower than the stresses on the fault deeper in the Earth. This creates an uneven pattern in how the fault moves. "The curvature holds important information about the dynamics of the rupture," Kearse said in an annotated video of the slip he posted on YouTube.
Related: The San Andreas Fault: Facts about the crack in California's crust that could unleash the 'Big One'
The differing stresses at the surface push the fault off its course, "and then it catches itself and does what it's supposed to do," Kearse said in the statement.
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The dynamics of these curvatures depend in part on which way the rupture travels, so an understanding of the curves can reveal clues about how past earthquakes unfolded and help scientists better predict future ground ruptures.
The research was published today (July 18) in the journal The Seismic Record.
Editor's Note: This article was updated at 8:20 p.m. EDT to note that the new research has now been published in The Seismic Record.
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00:00 We know the innovation cycle in Chinese A.I. has been very fast. Yeah. Yeah, but what happens if that slows down? I mean, sometimes people are hearing concerns. For instance, Deep Sea hasn't released a second reasoning model. Is that something that you need to be worried about? Uh, let's see. I would say as just a single organization or a single person, you really cannot go there fast for one time. Okay? You know, you're you're kind of like, you know, I can work in, like, for three days and without any sleep, but. But not anymore. Okay, Not anymore. And you have to. You can not, like, work 30 days and to have any sleep, okay? There's no way you could do that Work ethic in China. Yeah. Yeah. But I would say collectively, we can have an A very fast data ratio. Okay. Like. So that's why I really like a start. Would start with a mindset. So basically, you know, like deep sea could do something very fast. Okay. And, and then, like, we also have. Okay. Mm hmm. And then, like me. Okay. So. So. So collectively. And we can push that fast. I think that's okay. So that's what I. That's what I think it's important. Otherwise, why we use that population. Okay. So that's why, you know, when people get together and it's not just for, you know, competition, whether you win or not, it's basically you can have the very fast iteration of the technology because of this competition or because, you know, and and and you you work fast this time and you still are but then other guy will very fast and eventually be slow. And if you're good enough, you can catch them again. And it's I don't think it's a brutal but I think it's it's a very healthy because and that and when we work with the people that is very competitive that would be make you very much more competitive because that was the way how how accessing the new technology invented it. Yeah. Yeah. You're talking I guess about more of a marathon, not just a sprint race. Yes. Is there space, though, for new contestants to enter that race today? Uh, I would say at least for A.I., it's a marathon because I think and nobody could really see, you know, if it's an hour hour journey, it is staffing in the very beginning. Okay? So in that sense, you know, in a any short term way is not important and it's not like, you know, it. Again, I will say it, this a very important judgment. All you have to I think we have to make that a judgment is, you know, whether any advantage you have today is a barrier for other people to catch up. You okay? But but personally, I. I didn't see any advantage you have today will become the barrier for other people to catch up. Okay. It's just not early early process to not to net to next stage. Okay. And so that's why it's very exciting. Very exciting time for that. Anything that other areas stage, anything that actually everyday news things happen. It's exciting time, especially for youngsters. Okay. Yeah. You mentioned Kimmy from Moonshot and yeah, Alibaba's own model. I mean, is there any of the of the small language models, the large language models that stand out to you in particular in China today? Actually, that's a I would say there's a lot and but because of but you'd really want to get get to know by other people that's hard. China is really and that and and that and our country that benefit from the stable mindset. So obviously if you look at the young people, you know for at least for for the people that I have have a chance to to to to reach, they have very good stab at the mindset. And in particular, like in an area like a like a Hangzhou and all this area, you know, that is just consider that area. I'm not sure they know about some of the saying that in Hanzo I don't have the statistics but but it's basically the people talking about. So if you counting the people in Hanzo and every four or five people there was there is a CEO's. Okay. So it just means people just love to do some, some things. So it is a it is fascinating and I think it's still good for the for the for the for that I'd love to see that statistic one in five on the streets of hunger being a being a see Yeah you know hometown vice. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But when it comes to. Building an AI model today in China. What's the biggest challenge and is it on getting it to market and getting that awareness and getting people to use it? Or is it more on the building side? And I would say that the creativity is and and the reason I said I did, I really think, you know, I have an equation about what's the challenge you have in term that and the people always said, okay, the computing power probably is the barrier for us to do that. Okay. Actually, I don't think at this moment long term it is, but I just love it. I don't think it is. Okay. So particularly in the in the in the last six miles or 12 miles, that's particularly true. And what I that's what I want to say is, you know why I say it's a creativity, you know, the foundation motto from cookie and if deep sea are good enough, they are already much better than Full pond. Okay, I'm taking a look at the book here that you wrote about. Also the journey around on Alibaba Cloud and your vision for the business. And the foreword is written by Jack Ma. Yeah. And and he says that the first time he met you, he was shocked by your vision of the future of Internet technology and also that he wished that you've met earlier. What I find interesting, though, is that you actually had to convince him and others at Alibaba that cloud was the right business. Yeah, because, you know, fundamentally, I was there. The club business is very different, Internet business, fundamentally. Okay. So but thinking about, you know, almost 20 years ago, the the core Internet, the mindset is everywhere. Okay. So for the cloud computing is not that fit in that sense. Yes, that's one thing. The second is concubine is very different intimate business. I always said to my career, I'm very lucky to working on the first. It's a technology not like any other business. You know, they started with a business to business to business and and technologies to help the business, okay. With a compete in that case. So you have to have the technology first. That's the key. So is a technology. The second, you know, not every not every technology could become that business. Okay. That's why I always said only, you know, only 1% technology could be an A business. It's actually not even 90% technology, Just technology. Okay. So we very lucky. Okay. It's a business. And more important, it's a it's a it's the last business. So thinking of a lot of business, you know, have this life cycle in every ten years, you have to thinking about it. Another opportunity. Okay. The cloud computing is a is a very good miss. It could last for another, you know, 50 or 100 years. Okay. Because the computing is so fundamental. So when we use analogy about, you know, between the electricity and a computing is me a lot of things, okay, so electricity is elastic business. It would be for another 100 years. Okay. So that's the hard part for for, for the people to really understand. So at the very beginning it is hard. Yeah. I think something that we see right now is, is certainly money that's being directed at strong talent. Yeah. And and there's stories, of course, in Silicon Valley, we see people that are getting hundreds of millions of dollars. And yeah. What do you think about that? I think it's a I don't think it's that it's the let's see. It's a typical way of doing thing. They'll get out of that. The reason very simple. You know, example, when I when I study that, that they're able to cut out, you know, the first thing I did that was in Tucson eight the first I did it to get to Silicon Valley and to try to get tenant healthcare. And and and after talking to a lot of people and realize actually we don't have much a tenant there because new. Okay yeah so and also with some of the tenants it just too expensive and too expensive basically means okay you don't know whether the cannabis is there when is high when you hired these people. So it's really about innovation. So when you're in the early stage of innovation, I don't think a tenant is a problem because you know, they have the only thing you need to do is to get the right person. Not really is expensive person because if the new business, if this is true innovation, that it basically means the tenant and nobody cares about them. Okay. And I was working working on that. So for the today, what happened for the lack of matter is because they are very much a focus on the existing success of the business and existing. It's average all the technology that's the that that's that's, that's my view. Okay. So I think we have a tremendous opportunity to look at technology nobody knows to there and these talent these are current but but these are I can't say it's cheap but but it's it's available for you. Okay. So that's really about a vision, you know, where you want to where you want to go. And there's a lot of similar scenes, you know, happened during the last 20 years. Also, whenever everybody knows that these are talent and it's better for you not to Getty. And that isn't that that's not new that's that's my that's my so like personally that I hide that's okay you now he's had it he's a leader for the king you probably met him you know when you're in Hanzo you know I presently interview him, you know, 15 years ago. Hey, we got tenant. Now he's reading the key. Yeah, but so that's, so that's, that's why there's not really any justification. Then it sounds like you think so. Yeah. So you, you, that's now you know what the Met, you know I'm sorry what, what the what happened in Silicon Valley is not the, the the, the the the winning formula That's what I, that's what I believe you know. Yeah.
