On May 12, 2008, the magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake shook central China, its destructive tremors spreading from the flank of the Longmen Shan, or Dragon's Gate Mountains, along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.
On May 12, 2008, the magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake shook central China, its destructive tremors spreading from the flank of the Longmen Shan, or Dragon's Gate Mountains, along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.
Over 69,000 people died in the disaster, nearly a third are thought to be from geohazards like the more than 60,000 landslides that rushed down the slopes of the Longmen Shan.
After more than a decade and a half of work, scientists finally have an account of the fate of the landslide debris. Surveys of a reservoir downstream of the epicenter revealed how and how quickly the region’s major river moved this sediment, as well as the effect it had on the river channel itself. The results, published in Nature, suggest that the hazards caused by megaquakes may last long after the ground has settled. What’s more, they offer insights into a fundamental question of Earth science: How do earthquakes build mountains?
Read More: University of California - Santa Barbara
Photo Credit: ajs1980518 via Pixabay
