Gregory McLaskey (L) and Steven Glaser examine a tabletop model of a fault at UC Berkeley. (Preston Davis photo)
The more time it takes for an earthquake fault to heal, the faster the shake it will produce when it finally ruptures, according to a new study by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, who conducted their work using a tabletop model of a quake fault. "The high frequency waves of an earthquake - the kind that produces the rapid jolts - are not well understood because they are more difficult to measure and more difficult to model,” said study lead author Gregory McLaskey, a former UC Berkeley Ph.D. student in civil and environmental engineering. "But those high frequency waves are what matter most when it comes to bringing down buildings, roads and bridges, so it's important for us to understand them. While the study, to be published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Nature and funded by the National Science Foundation, does nothing to bring scientists closer to predicting when the next big one will hit, the findings could help engineers better assess the vulnerabilities of buildings, bridges and other structures when a fault does rupture. "The experiment in our lab allows us to consider how long a fault has healed and more accurately predict the type of shaking that would occur when it ruptures,” said Steven Glaser, UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering and principal investigator of the study.
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