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Science 22 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5794, p. 1700
DOI: 10.1126/science.313.5794.1700e
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This Week in Science

Earthquake rupture has long been thought to occur by propagation of a crack, but more recent observations and theory seem to indicate a "pulse-like" or "self-healing" mode of rupture propagation. In a series of model experiments, Lykotrafitis et al. (p. 1765; see the Perspective by Marone and Richardson) use a combination of dynamic photoelasticity and laser interferometry techniques to watch various rupture modes propagating along frictionally held, incoherent, interfaces and address the question of what controls slip at a point on a fault during an earthquake in realistic settings. The results show that self-healing pulses are typical and that crack-like or pulse-like modes, or both, can pertain depending on conditions.




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