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Science 31 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5769, pp. 1897 - 1901
DOI: 10.1126/science.1122602
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Research Articles

Deformation and Slip Along the Sunda Megathrust in the Great 2005 Nias-Simeulue Earthquake

Richard W. Briggs,1* Kerry Sieh,1 Aron J. Meltzner,1 Danny Natawidjaja,2 John Galetzka,1 Bambang Suwargadi,2 Ya-ju Hsu,1 Mark Simons,1 Nugroho Hananto,2 Imam Suprihanto,3 Dudi Prayudi,2 Jean-Philippe Avouac,1 Linette Prawirodirdjo,4 Yehuda Bock4

Seismic rupture produced spectacular tectonic deformation above a 400-kilometer strip of the Sunda megathrust, offshore northern Sumatra, in March 2005. Measurements from coral microatolls and Global Positioning System stations reveal trench-parallel belts of uplift up to 3 meters high on the outer-arc islands above the rupture and a 1-meter-deep subsidence trough farther from the trench. Surface deformation reflects more than 11 meters of fault slip under the islands and a pronounced lessening of slip trenchward. A saddle in megathrust slip separates the northwestern edge of the 2005 rupture from the great 2004 Sumatra-Andaman rupture. The southeastern edge abuts a predominantly aseismic section of the megathrust near the equator.

1 Tectonics Observatory, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
2 Research Center for Geotechnology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Bandung, Indonesia.
3 Jl. Mahoni, Blok E, Gang I, No. 13, Rt. 002/015, Kota Jakarta 14270, Indonesia.
4 Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: briggs{at}gps.caltech.edu

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