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Earthquakes

Unveiling the Secrets of Supershear Earthquakes: Insights from the 2025 Myanmar Supershear Rupture

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Researchers led by Shengji Wei have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the 2025 Myanmar earthquake, a supershear rupture that caused widespread destruction along the Sagaing Fault. The study, published in Science, analyzed data from the event and shed light on the factors that contributed to the rare and devastating supershear rupture. The findings provide valuable insights for earthquake hazard analysis and can inform mitigation strategies for at-risk communities.

Key Takeaways:

  • The 2025 Myanmar earthquake was one of the longest and fastest-moving ruptures ever recorded on land, with a moment magnitude of 7.7 to 7.8, resulting in at least 5,352 fatalities and extensive structural damage.
  • The surface rupture was over 450 kilometers in length, stretching north to south through major cities, and broke supershear speeds, traveling faster than the local shear wave speed.
  • The researchers used a multifaceted approach, including satellite-based and seismic techniques, remote sensing, and teleseismic data, to resolve rupture dynamics and fault structure.
  • The study found that the rupture started at subshear velocities and rapidly shifted to supershear, with velocities up to 5.3 km/s, sustained for more than 200 km.
  • The researchers suggest that the thick fault zone, aided by fault geometry and basin structure, enabled prolonged supershear propagation and that simple fault geometry and a wide fault zone provided the most essential conditions behind the prolonged distance of the supershear and subshear-to-supershear transition.

Statistics:

  • The 2025 Myanmar earthquake had a surface rupture of over 450 kilometers in length.
  • The rupture velocities reached up to 5.3 km/s, sustained for more than 200 km.
  • The study's findings provide insights into the factors that lead to supershear rupture velocities, including thick fault zones and simple fault geometries.
  • The eruption was felt as far as Bangkok, Thailand, 1,000 km away.

Sources:

  • Shengji Wei et al, Supershear rupture sustained through a thick fault zone in the 2025 Mw 7.8 Mandalay earthquake, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adz2101
  • Seismic study sheds light on factors that led to 2025 Myanmar supershear rupture (2025, November 1). Retrieved 1 November 2025 from https://phys.org/news/2025-10-seismic-factors-myanmar-supershear-rupture.html

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