Scientists record earthquake that lasted 32 years

Slow earthquakes have only been recognized since the late 1990s when they were first observed in the Pacific Northwest of North America and the Nankai Trench area off the coast of Japan. Daniele Ingemi Italy 08/07/2024 16:30 6 min

In February 1861, an earthquake measuring about 8.5 on the Richter scale struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, causing a massive tsunami that killed thousands of people on the island.

This tragic event appears to have been more than an isolated incident, but rather the final stage of the longest earthquake ever recorded, which traveled through the Earth's interior for a full 32 years. This type of phenomenon is known as a “slow slip event,” and it develops over the course of days, months, or even years.

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What we just described broke previous records, lasting more than twice as long, scientists report in the journal Nature Geoscience.

What do we know about these “slow earthquakes”?

“I never imagined that such a long, slow slide could happen, and yet we found traces of it,” says Emma Hill, study author and geodesy expert at the Earth Observatory at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

The discovery of this very slow earthquake could be very useful for scientists in understanding the amazing diversity of ways our turbulent planet moves as well as the deadly potential of these silent phenomena in their ability to cause much stronger shocks.

These long earthquakes release energy built up as tectonic plates move, but instead of causing shocks they release stress gradually over time and are not dangerous in themselves.

These long earthquakes release energy that builds up as tectonic plates move, but rather than causing shocks, they release stress gradually over time and are not dangerous in and of themselves. However, small displacements underground can increase stresses on nearby areas along the fall, increasing the risk of a stronger shock nearby.

Discover these earthquakes

Slow earthquakes have only been recognized since the late 1990s, when they were first observed in the Pacific Northwest of North America and the Nankai Trench area off the coast of Japan.

Their weak energy release results in only slight surface movements, which is why they were not discovered until GPS technology was developed enough to be able to track them.

But since then, the more researchers have looked for traces of “slow” earthquakes, the more they’ve found them: from the coasts of New Zealand to Costa Rica to Alaska. “We’re finding uninterrupted slip everywhere,” says Lucile Brouhat, a geophysicist at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, who was not part of the study team.

Slow earthquakes occur in the Cascadia region and in the Nankai Trench region with great regularity. Every 14 months or so in the former and every three to six months in the latter, respectively. In both regions, these long-period shocks are also accompanied by a series of smaller, more minor shocks, known as foreshocks.

The results of two decades of studies

Over the years, scientists have found that the duration of slow earthquakes can vary widely as they continue their studies. In Alaska, for example, Malek says, one event was found to last at least nine years.

In geology, the Pacific Ring of Fire is the name given to the area characterized by frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Seismologists were not able to confirm this until after the surface slippage stopped in 2004. The event observed near Sumatra significantly changes the possible duration range for this type of phenomenon.

“A lot of people claim that these slow, large events are possible,” says Laura Wallace, a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin and the Geoscience Center in New Zealand, who was not involved in the team’s studies.

But continuous monitoring of soil movements near subduction zones has only been done for about two decades, so “we are only monitoring for a very short time.”

Why is it so important to know about this type of earthquake?

Understanding these slow-motion events is crucial to determining the potential risk they pose in terms of triggering stronger earthquakes. This type of phenomenon has preceded many of the most devastating earthquakes on record, including the catastrophic 9.1-magnitude Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in Indonesia in 2004, the devastating 9.1-magnitude Tohoku earthquake in Japan in 2011, and the horrific 8.2-magnitude Iquique earthquake in Chile in 2014.

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But proving that slow events can actually cause violent shocks is still very complicated. Not all slow earthquakes lead to very strong earthquakes. To find out more, it is necessary to continue studying the phenomenon. But often, it is necessary to use very complex and expensive equipment to do so.

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