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A video evidence the ground tearing apart in a major earthquake in Myanmar in March may be the first of its form .
Thevideocaptures a reason rupture , the ripping of Earth ’s crust all the way up to the surface , during a major seism . The magnitude 7.7 quake struck on March 28 at 12:50 p.m. local time and was felt as far out as Thailand . Nearly 5,500 mass died .
The video , post on Facebook by Singaporean applied scientist Htin Aung , come from GP Energy Myanmar ’s Thapyawa solar farm , located near the town of Thazi , according to Aung ’s military post . The provender is centered on a concrete - and - alloy logic gate , which shiver and slew loose as the land begins to move . About 14 seconds into the television , a crack opens across the driveway and yard outside the gate , with the ground literally pulling aside .
" It ’s really kind of unsettling , " saidJohn Vidale , a seismologist at the University of Southern California Dornsife . Vidale told Live Science he get it on of no other videos that show such a ground falling out . Rick Aster , a geophysicist at Colorado State University , concurred .
" To my noesis , this is the best video recording we have of a throughgoing surface rupture of a very enceinte earthquake , " Aster told Live Science .
The Myanmar quake occurred on the Sagaing Fault between the Burma and Sunda tectonic plates , two small-scale tectonic plate . This fault slice through cardinal Myanmar in a consecutive line , north to south . It ’s a transform mistake , just like California ’s noted San Andreas , where the two photographic plate move side by side against each other .
The epicentre of the Myanmar temblor , where the fault breach start up , was north of the location in the picture , near the city of Mandalay . This rupture then propagated both north and south , cracking the ground all along the fault line .
" The factual segment of the Earth that is slipping side to side drop dead from the surface down to maybe 20 or 30 km [ 12 to 19 miles ] depth , " Aster say . Below that , the crust still moves , but the incrustation is more malleable and deforms rather than cracks .
The stir first seen in the video recording comes from the earthquake wave that speed out from the rupturing crack , Vidale say . Then , the rupture itself arrives .
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Seismologists get good measurement of such ruptures from seismic stations that use GPS to quantify even lilliputian movements of the Earth’s crust . They also often do fieldwork to find grounds of rupture after they come about , Aster suppose . " But we do n’t really understand the dynamics of what hap , precisely how things move , " he say . The video might be utile for researchers who are essay to understand those unusual dynamics .
" I have no doubt that seismologists will take a very close aspect at this , " Aster said . " It will probably go to some kind of a issue at some point , if the location and other details can be sort out . "
Live Science reached out to Aung and to GP Energy Myanmar and will update this floor with further details , if available .
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