Earthquake/ Sagaing fault

Earthquake/ Sagaing fault: A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.7 and at least six aftershocks struck central Myanmar recently.

• About: Earth’s lithosphere consists of tectonic plates that have been moving for three-four billion years.

o Earthquakes occur when two tectonic plates slip past each other, releasing elastic strain energy as seismic waves.

o The Myanmar earthquake resulted from "strike-slip faulting" between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

• It occurred along the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through Myanmar and is prone to earthquakes.

o A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two rock blocks, allowing them to move relative to each other, sometimes causing earthquakes.

o The Sagaing Fault marks the tectonic boundary between the Indian plate (west) and Eurasian plate (east).

o The Indian plate is moving north along the fault compared to the Eurasian plate, as per Bill McGuire (UCL).

o It was the strongest earthquake in the world in the last two years, as per the United States Geological Survey (USGS).