Moreover, faults may rupture in much the same way that a tire skids on pavement or a ripple moves through a rug.

But it is consistent with what we know about how major quakes can add strain to areas at a considerable distance from where the fault actually ruptured.

In mapping the area affected by last week's quake, Dr. Barka said that the fault ruptured for at least 60 miles east of Izmit.

If the region is under active compression these faults are constantly rupturing, but any given valley might only experience a large earthquake every few hundred years.

It assumes neighboring faults can rupture together.

More specifically, geologists have determined that the fault has ruptured at least four times in the past 11,000 years.

A deep fault ruptured in him, and he teetered on the edge for a timeless moment.

The fault ruptured in 1930, causing a Magnitude 7.3 quake and likely a local tsunami at Bago, causing over 500 deaths.

And when larger faults ruptured, the home computer data would give a better picture of ground motion than has ever been captured, Dr. Cranswick said.

Everything compresses on this point and if the pressure isn't relieved, the fault will rupture completely, destroying much for no reason.