What type of fault is the Sunda megathrust?
It is a megathrust, located at a convergent plate boundary where it forms the interface between the overriding Eurasian plate and the subducting Indo-Australian plate….List of Sunda megathrust earthquakes.
| Location | 50 km north of Simeulue Regency |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 3.30°N 95.87°E |
| Fatalities | 227,898 |
| Magnitude | 9.3 Mw (USGS) |
How does a megathrust earthquake create a tsunami?
Why do megathrust earthquakes cause tsunamis? The thrusting motion of megathrust earthquake causes large vertical movement on the sea floor and this displaces a large volume of water which travels away from the undersea motion as a tsunami.
What do you mean by megathrust?
Megathrust meaning (geology) A sudden slip along a fault between a subducting and an overriding plate; results in a major earthquake. noun.
Is the Sunda plate oceanic or continental?
Tectonic plate and crust are slightly different concepts. So, The Sunda plate is mainly comprised of continental crust. There might be a bit of oceanic crust, but less. The convergence of the Indo-Australian plate with the Sunda plate is an oceanic-continental convergence.
Where is the Sunda plate?
Southeast Asia
The Sunda Plate is a minor tectonic plate straddling the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located. The Sunda Plate was formerly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate, but the GPS measurements have confirmed its independent movement at 10 mm/yr eastward relative to Eurasia.
What makes megathrust earthquakes so destructive?
Megathrust earthquakes are plate boundary ruptures that occur on the contact area of two converging tectonic plates in subduction zones. Megathrusts also have the potential to produce devastating tsunamis because of the large ocean bottom vertical movement occurring during the earthquake.
Can two tsunamis collide?
Waves created when a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off the coast came together to create a “merging tsunami” captured by satellites for the first time, according to Nasa and researchers at Ohio State University. The satellite images show how two wave fronts merged to form a single, bigger wave far out at sea.
Why are megathrust earthquakes so powerful?
In a megathrust earthquake area, one plate pushes under another in a so-called subduction zone. The fault interface is almost horizontal. Typically the fault descends at 10–20° from the horizontal. Together, these factors make a megathrust earthquake the most powerful in existence.