A large earthquake on one fault can trigger large aftershocks on separate faults within just a few minutes, scientists have found. The town of Pescara del Tronto was one of the worst hit with buildings flattened (pictured) by the magnitude 6.2 earthquake that occurred last month
But according to a new study, the damage can be spread far further by triggering a tidal wave of aftershocks on other faults elsewhere.
A large earthquake on one fault can trigger large aftershocks on separate faults within just a few seconds, scientists discovered.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego discovered previously unidentified aftershocks that happened within minutes of big earthquakes.
The discovery is important for the safety of earthquake-prone regions like California - where ruptures on complex fault systems like the San Andreas fault may lead to mega-earthquakes.
In the study, published in the journal Science, geophysicist Professor Peter Shearer and graduate student Wenyuan Fan discovered 48 previously unidentified large aftershocks that occurred between 2004 and 2015.
In one instance along the Sundra arc subduction zone, where the magnitude 9 Sumatra-Andaman mega-earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia in 2004 (aftermath pictured), a magnitude 7 quake triggered two large aftershocks over 124 miles (200 kilometres) away
Comment: From USGS: "The U.S. Geological Survey is updating the official magnitude of the September 3, 2016 Pawnee, Oklahoma earthquake to Mw 5.8 (from 5.6), making it Oklahoma's largest recorded earthquake to date."