A new study suggests certain earthquake fault segments long thought to be stable may rupture and cause a mega-quake.
That’s what happened during the 2011 magnitude-9 quake in Japan that triggered a tsunami and during the 1999 magnitude-7.6 Chi-Chi quake in Taiwan.
In both cases, scientists assumed that “creeping” segments in a fault would serve as a buffer and prevent the entire fault from unzipping.
But a new study published in the journal Nature suggests this may not always be the case.
This may have important implications for California’s San Andreas Fault, which has a creeping section that separates the locked segments in Northern and Southern California.
Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Former Broker, Co-Defendant Sentenced to 20 Years in Fraudulent ACA Sign-Ups 
Preparing for an AI Native Future 
Munich Re Unit to Cut 1,000 Positions as AI Takes Over Jobs 
State Farm Adjuster’s Opinion Does Not Override Policy Exclusion in MS Sewage Backup From This Issue
