Gaining insight into the energy balance of earthquakes

Researchers at EPFL's Computational Solid Mechanics Laboratory and the Weizmann Institute of Science have modeled the onset of slip between two bodies in frictional contact. Their work, a major step forward in the study of frictional rupture, could give us a better understanding of earthquakes - including how far and fast they travel. It's still impossible to determine where and when an earthquake will occur. For example, California has for years been under the threat of the "Big One," and closer to home, a recent series of small shocks in Valais Canton in early November has raised fears of a major earthquake in the region. Although we can't predict earthquakes, researchers from EPFL and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have made a step forward in assessing earthquake dynamics through a better understanding of how frictional slip - the relative motion of two bodies in contact under shear stress, such as tectonic plates - begins. Their work has been published in two complementary parts, in Physical Review X and Earth and Planetary Science Letters . "We wanted to understand what happens when two bodies in frictional contact suddenly start moving following a gradual increase of the shear stress: the way they start sliding will determine the speed and extent of the movement and, potentially, the severity of an earthquake," explains Fabian Barras, a doctoral assistant at EPFL's Computational Solid Mechanics Laboratory (LSMS) during this research, and first author of both articles. Parallels between slip front and fracture