“To have a fault this long fail in a populated area is horrific,” said Professor Tim Wright, head of the U.K. Centre for the Observation & Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes & Tectonics (COMET).
Experts say the surface ruptures offer a valuable source of data that will help them understand the processes that caused such a devastating event - and ultimately save lives.
“Scientists around the world are using these kinds of data to build ‘source models’ of the event,” Wright said, adding that such models could predict how structures behave during earthquakes and how they might affect key infrastructure such as bridges and roads. “In the longer-term, forensically understanding every earthquake helps us prepare for future events in different regions.”
Ik heb Hem niet uit vrees voor de hel noch uit liefde voor het paradijs gediend, want dan zou ik als de slechte huurling zijn geweest; ik heb hem veeleer gediend in liefde tot Hem en in verlangen naar Hem.
-Rabia Al-Basri