On-fault and remote observations of exceptionally long, supershear rupture in the 2025 M 7.7 Mandalay earthquake
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.
Authors
- Zijia Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2909-2741)
- Chaofeng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8534-9276)
- Jindong Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0529-9737)
- Qiang Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9768-5223)
- Chris Milliner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3790-595X)
- Guoguang Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8942-5659)
- Haoran Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1951-2319)
- Zhenguo Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0059-1766)
- Haipeng Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0535-7271)
- Kai Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9844-8168)
- Kejie Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8878-1731)
- Solene L. Antoine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5663-7292)
- Fuhua Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6493-6619)
- Jean‐Philippe Avouac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3060-8442)
- Xiaofei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0950-8121)
- Jianhao Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5681-0575)
- Zhongqiu He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1971-0972)
- Zaiwang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9917-3531)
- Min Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4038-4195)
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Institut de physique du globe de Paris (FR)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- University of Florida (US)
- Risk Management Solutions (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration (CN)
- Southwest Jiaotong University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2026-10-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee5191
- Primary Topic
- earthquake and tectonic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00