Open AccessStudying the seismogenic coupling zone with a passive seismic array
Author(s) -
Rietbrock A.,
Haberland C.,
Bataille K.,
Dahm T.,
Oncken O.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2005eo320001
Subject(s) - subduction , seismology , geology , geophysics , earth science , tectonics
Subduction zones generate the world's largest and most destructive earthquakes and most of the world's destructive tsunamis, as has been recently shown by the devastating Andaman‐Sumatra event on 26 December 2004. Understanding the factors leading to Earth's largest and most destructive earthquakes is not only an “obviously important” goal, as stated in the U.S. National Science Foundation's Margins Science Report 2004, but it is also an “utmost important” goal for the whole geoscience community Interrelated with this topic are still unsolved questions in seismology: Why do subduction zones occasionally generate the largest known ( M w >9) earthquakes? And why are only a few subduction zones capable of generating M w 9 earthquakes while the rest only produce up to M w 7.5?