Myanmar fault had ideal geometry to produce 2025 supershear earthquake
A UCLA-led team of scientists has uncovered how the devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar in March 2025 produced one of the longest and fastest-moving ruptures ever recorded on land.
The study, published in Science, shows that the earthquake ruptured about 530 kilometers of the Sagaing Fault, with a 450-kilometer segment racing faster than the speed of seismic shear waves—a rare phenomenon known as a supershear rupture. These “Mach-like” ruptures generate shock waves that can greatly amplify ground shaking and damage.
“Supershear earthquakes are like breaking the sound barrier, but in rock,” said Lingsen Meng, a professor of ...