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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCScience Advances

On-fault and remote observations of exceptionally long, supershear rupture in the 2025 M 7.7 Mandalay earthquake

  • Kejie Chen1
  • Haoran Meng1
  • Zhenguo Zhang1
  • Zijia Wang1
  • Zaiwang Liu1
  • Chris Milliner2,3
  • Guoguang Wei4
  • Fuhua Zheng1
  • Jianhao Gao5
  • Min Zhou1
  • Solene L. Antoine2
  • Chaofeng Wang5
7 more authors
  • Zhongqiu He1
  • Kai Huang1
  • Jindong Song6
  • Qiang Ma6
  • Haipeng Luo1
  • Xiaofei Chen1
  • Jean-Philippe Avouac2,7
7 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
  2. 2Geological and Planetary Science Division, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
  3. 3Moody’s Risk Management Solutions, Newark, NJ, USA.
  4. 4Faculty of Geosciences and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China.
  5. 5M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
  6. 6Key Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration, Harbin, China.
  7. 7Université Paris Cité, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France.
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Abstract

Straight faults are considered prone to large supershear ruptures and seismic gaps to likely host future earthquakes. Both predictions may have been fulfilled in the magnitude ( M ) 7.7 Mandalay earthquake of 28 March 2025 on the Sagaing Fault. Exceptional video footage of the fault rupture, high-rate Global Navigation Satellite System, and seismological and remote sensing data reveal a supershear slip pulse that formed early and ruptured a well-identified seismic gap but propagated well beyond it, resulting in an exceptional rupture length of 510 kilometers. By contrast, the slip pulse observed in the video footage has subshear characteristics. These observations can be reconciled by a preferred conceptual interpretation invoking depth-dependent weakening properties, stress heterogeneity, and possible dynamic triggering. These properties allow for energetic ruptures that stay confined to the depth range locked in the interseismic period but are not confined to seismic gaps along strike.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{chen2026onfault,
  title = {{On-fault and remote observations of exceptionally long, supershear rupture in the 2025 M 7.7 Mandalay earthquake}},
  author = {Kejie Chen and Haoran Meng and Zhenguo Zhang and Zijia Wang and Zaiwang Liu and Chris Milliner and Guoguang Wei and Fuhua Zheng and Jianhao Gao and Min Zhou and Solene L. Antoine and Chaofeng Wang and Zhongqiu He and Kai Huang and Jindong Song and Qiang Ma and Haipeng Luo and Xiaofei Chen and Jean-Philippe Avouac},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aee5191},
  url = {https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aee5191},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - On-fault and remote observations of exceptionally long, supershear rupture in the 2025 M 7.7 Mandalay earthquake
AU  - Kejie Chen
AU  - Haoran Meng
AU  - Zhenguo Zhang
AU  - Zijia Wang
AU  - Zaiwang Liu
AU  - Chris Milliner
AU  - Guoguang Wei
AU  - Fuhua Zheng
AU  - Jianhao Gao
AU  - Min Zhou
AU  - Solene L. Antoine
AU  - Chaofeng Wang
AU  - Zhongqiu He
AU  - Kai Huang
AU  - Jindong Song
AU  - Qiang Ma
AU  - Haipeng Luo
AU  - Xiaofei Chen
AU  - Jean-Philippe Avouac
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.aee5191
UR  - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aee5191
AB  - Straight faults are considered prone to large supershear ruptures and seismic gaps to likely host future earthquakes. Both predictions may have been fulfilled in the magnitude ( M ) 7.7 Mandalay earthquake of 28 March 2025 on the Sagaing Fault. Exceptional video footage of the fault rupture, high-rate Global Navigation Satellite System, and seismological and remote sensing data reveal a supershear slip pulse that formed early and ruptured a well-identified seismic gap but propagated well beyond it, resulting in an exceptional rupture length of 510 kilometers. By contrast, the slip pulse observed in the video footage has subshear characteristics. These observations can be reconciled by a preferred conceptual interpretation invoking depth-dependent weakening properties, stress heterogeneity, and possible dynamic triggering. These properties allow for energetic ruptures that stay confined to the depth range locked in the interseismic period but are not confined to seismic gaps along strike.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -