Rapid Acceleration Leads to Rapid Weakening in Earthquake-Like Laboratory Experiments

Abstract

Grinding Out Earthquake Physics Simulating earthquakes in the lab produces events that are often orders of magnitude lower in energy than large, damaging earthquakes; thus, it is unclear how well the behavior along these simulated faults extrapolates to the physics of large earthquakes. Chang et al. (p. 101 ; see the Perspective by Shimamoto and Togo ) used a rotary apparatus that spins in tandem at high speeds with a disc-shaped rock sample, producing energies comparable to earthquakes of magnitudes 4 to 8. Experiments using both granite and dolomite samples suggest that the weakening of slip along faults during large earthquakes is a product of intense accelerations associated with the rupture event.