Earthquakes cannot be measured only by their intensity. The “triggers” of these jolts are usually found underground, and it seems like there may be no limit to how deep researchers can look.
LiveScience.com tells us about the deepest earthquake ever that was just discovered by scientists at a staggering depth of 751 kilometers below the surface. The jolt in question is far deeper than previously-analyzed earthquakes and responsible for its discovery are researchers led by Eric Kiser, a seismologist from the University of Arizona. We’re talking about a minor aftershock to the 7.9-magnitude quake in 2015 that shook the Bonin Islands off Japan.
Earthquakes from the lower mantle were thought to be impossible
Scientists initially believed that earthquakes happening in the lower mantle of the Earth were impossible, but the newly detected one proves to us all once again that science is far from perfect. The scientists’ initial assumption was due to the fact that because of extreme pressures, it’s more plausible for rocks to bend and deform than to break with a release of energy that occurs suddenly.
As for how earthquakes usually occur, their “trigger” is found within the crust of the Earth and upper mantle. Pamela Burnley, who is a professor of geomaterials from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, declared as quoted by LiveScience.com:
At that depth, we think all of the water should be driven off, and we’re definitely far, far away from where we would see classic brittle behavior,
This has always been a dilemma.
Earthquakes happen all the time around the globe, as nature doesn’t care one bit if we like to see coffee splattered on our pants or not. According to the BBC, several million earthquakes happen every year across the planet.
The deepest earthquake that makes the subject of this article was first reported back in June in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
