The New Year's earthquake that struck Noto City in Japan had two epicenters.

On New Year's Day 2024, a devastating earthquake struck Japan's Noto Peninsula. The quake measured 7.5 on the Richter scale, killing more than 280 people and damaging more than 83,000 homes. Something new and surprising has been discovered about this event.

Geologists found that the earthquake started at almost the same time at two different points on the fault line. This caused the earthquake fault to encircle and break through the barrier, a resistance area on the fault. This rare “double-initiation” mechanism exerted intense pressure on both sides of the barrier, followed by the release of a powerful burst of energy. The Noto Peninsula shook violently because of this.

Several strong seismic waves were recorded before the larger earthquake. These waves are known to cause catastrophic earthquakes, so scientists analyzed geospatial data and recordings of seismic waves inside the Earth during these waves.

An international team of researchers from the United States, France, China and Japan tried to understand the relationship between the swarm of small earthquakes and the larger earthquake, and they were able to identify a previously unknown barrier in the swarm area.

Study on the 2024 Noto Earthquake

Led by Lingxin Meng, an associate professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences at UCLA, Liuwei Xu, a graduate student at the university, and Chen Ji, a professor of geophysics at UC Santa Barbara, the team found that the quake started almost simultaneously at two separate locations on the fault.

“The earthquake started in two places and then circled around them,” Meng said.

“The first wave started out as fast-spreading waves and excited a different center. Then the two parts spread outward together and met in the middle, where the barrier was, and broke it.”

Scientists were surprised to see the double initiation process happening in real life, as it has mostly been seen in computer simulations. Having two epicenters means the risk of stronger shaking and greater damage is greater.

“We were able to detect it because Japan has very good seismic monitoring stations and we also used GPS data and satellite radar. We collected all the data we could find! And just by combining all of this data we got a really high resolution of this fault and were able to get to these fine details,” Meng said.

The team also believes that many earthquakes lack such data, so it is possible that such earthquakes are more common.

The study was published in the journal Science.

Anamika Singh

Anamika Singh started her career as a sports journalist and then moved on to writing about entertainment, news and lifestyle. She is involved in script editing and video production.

Show more

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos