Li, b. et al.
New model was based on the earthquake in Türkiye in 2023, a rare doublet. We can now better understand how these disastrous earthquakes are formed.
An international researchers team, led by Professor Martin Mai and Scientist Bo Li at the University of Science and Technology King Abdullah (Kaust), created a 3D simulator that revolutionizes the way we see the seismo.
This model is based on Real data from the devastating earthquake of February 2023 in Türkiye To better understand soil vibrations during the event.
“The combination of 3D geometry of the Earth’s structure and 3D model makes our simulations much more realistic and explains a vast set of observations very well,” researcher Martin Mai told
The earthquake of Türkiye consisted of a doublet – when two powerful earthquakes that occur with a short time difference between each other.
In the published end of March in Naturescientists show how, unlike the typical secondary earthquakes, Doubles are difficult to model because they do not follow normalized standards.
This simulator shows how changes in rupture velocity, especially super-tape breaks-fault runs that propagate faster than the speed of the seismic shear wave-can change the shaking pattern and cause amplified soil shaking far from the earthquake.
The way the rupture is triggered and delayed due to the complex geometry of the earthquake and the rotational regional tension are other elements present in the study, which revolutionizes the way we can watch in detail all the triggering of the phenomenon, and thus we can protect our cities when it happens.
“Advanced numerical simulations of seismic physics will help improve planning and resource affectationin order to protect infrastructure and lives from violent ruptures, ”says Mai.
