A new study led by Professor Lingsen Meng and Dr. Liuwei Xu (UCLA Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences) reveals that the devastating 2025 Mandalay, Myanmar earthquake (Mw 7.7) produced one of the fastest and longest earthquake ruptures ever recorded on land.
The research, published in Science on October 29, 2025, shows that the earthquake ruptured more than 530 kilometers along the Sagaing Fault, with a 450-kilometer supershear segment that propagated faster than the speed of seismic shear waves—an extremely rare phenomenon.
Using global seismic data, satellite radar, and optical imagery, the team reconstructed the rupture in unprecedented detail. Their findings highlight how fault geometry, long-term stress accumulation, and contrasting rock properties combined to enable the exceptional rupture speed, offering new insights into how devastating earthquakes evolve in continental regions.
🧭 Read the paper: Science — Bimaterial Effect and Favorable Energy Ratio Enable Supershear Rupture in the 2025 Myanmar Quake
📰 Read the UCLA press release: UCLA Newsroom — Why the 2025 Myanmar Earthquake Happened and What It Reveals About Fault Dynamics
(Image: Cover of the October 29, 2025 issue of Science featuring studies of the 2025 Myanmar earthquake)
