Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami

Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami
Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2013 - For the first time, scientists have measured the frictional heat produced by the fault slip during an earthquake. Their results, published December 5 in Science, show that friction on the fault was remarkably low during the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan in March 2011 and triggered a devastating tsunami. "The Tohoku fault is more slippery than anyone ... morehttp://www.terradaily.com/reports/Slippery_fault_unleashed_destructive_Tohoku_Oki_earthquake_and_tsunami_999.html

Scientists calculate friction of Japan's 9.0 earthquake in 2011
Corvallis OR (SPX) Dec 10, 2013 - An international team of scientists that installed a borehole temperature observatory following the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake in Japan has been able to measure the "frictional heat" generated during the rupture of the fault - an amount the researchers say was smaller than expected, which means the fault is more slippery than previously thought. It is the first time scientists have been ab ... more http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Scientists_calculate_friction_of_Japans_9_earthquake_in_2011_999.html