Japan's 3/11 Earthquake Makes Geologists Rethink Megathrust Quakes

"There are many things we thought we knew and it's now painfully clear we just don't,"says Okal. Barbara Romanowicz, director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory at the University of California, agrees: "A lot of ideas will be shattered because of this quake."

"When we imaged the main shock, the propagation of energy was all over the place," says Kiser. "We believe this is the most complex rupture behaviour ever observed." The team reckons the pattern may partially explain why the quake was so ferocious".

Good Read: Starburst megaquake: Japan quake overturns geology - environment - 19 April 2011 - New Scientist