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Science 11 May 2001:
Vol. 292. no. 5519, pp. 1145 - 1148
DOI: 10.1126/science.1059395
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Reports

Simultaneous Rupture Along Two Conjugate Planes of the Wharton Basin Earthquake

D. P. Robinson, C. Henry, S. Das,* J. H. Woodhouse

Analysis of broadband teleseismic data shows that the 18 June 2000 Wharton Basin earthquake, a moment magnitude 7.8 intraplate event in the region of diffuse deformation separating the Indian and Australian plates, consisted of two subevents that simultaneously ruptured two near-conjugate planes. This mode of rupture accommodates shortening by a mechanism different from that previously known elsewhere in the region. The larger subevent occurred on a fossil fracture zone, with a relatively high stress drop of about 20 megapascals, showing that large stresses can accumulate in regions of distributed deformation.

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PR, UK.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: das{at}earth.ox.ac.uk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)