Deepest earthquake ever hit area previously thought impossible by scientists — RT World News
An earthquake that struck at a whopping 751 kilometers (467 miles) below the Earth’s surface is the deepest ever recorded, scientists have revealed. A zone that is considered impossible to produce quakes was shaken by the tremor.
This ultra-deep earthquake, which occurred in 2015. It struck the Bonin Islands off Japan’s mainland as an aftershock of a 7.9 magnitude earthquake. Although the earthquake was not felt on the ground, sensitive equipment was necessary to locate it.
Occurring at a depth of 751 kilometers (467 miles), the shock happened in the lower mantle – a zone where seismologists had previously believed it was impossible for earthquakes to happen.
“This is by far the best evidence for an earthquake in the lower mantle,”National Geographic spoke with a seismologist that specializes in deep quakes.
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5.9-magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of N. Sumatra, Indonesia – USGS
The quake was first reported in June in the Geophysical Research Letters journal and was discovered by researchers using Tokyo’s advanced Hi-net array of seismic stations. A consensus among scientists still needs to be made to confirm the quake’s depth.
Under the extreme pressure and temperatures found in the Earth’s lower mantle and deeper crust, rocks are less likely to break when hit by a sudden release of energy, but bend upon impact. In an article that was published Monday, Pamela Burnley from the University of Nevada Las Vegas explained to LiveScience that such matter doesn’t always behave like it should.
Nearly all earthquakes are located at low levels within the crust or upper mantle. They can be as shallow as 100 km (62 miles). Burnley explained that minerals in the crust are less able to bend than they can before breaking because they have a cold and brittle structure.
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Tokyo was struck by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake. This halted public transportation and caused intermittent power outages (VIDEOS).
Also, minerals within the crust of the continent may be colder than their surrounding rock. They do not react as expected under this pressure.
Scientists are still puzzled by deep quakes. However, Heidi Houston from the University of Southern California said that one possibility is that the boundary of the upper and lower mantle might not be as it appears.
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