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Click on the picture below to see a larger, jpeg version.
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What are the possible forces that may cause a "great thrust" earthquake in a subduction zone? Suprisingly little research has been done in the area of earthquakes caused by meteorite impact. Of course, since so few large meteors now impact earth, that is understandable. Such impacts were much more frequent millions of years ago, however, and we can still measure some of their effects and postulate about future damage should we ever get hit with one of the 300 or more known earth-crossing asteroids. At the left, we see the largest of the meteor craters in the Rudhee Valley. It sits near at the top of the Knottmye fault. The impact is estimated to have occurred about 2,500 years ago. The energy released by this impact was about the same as the Tunguska impact -- the Siberian impact in June 30, 1908. We will attempt to have our analysis ready before object (4660) Nereus has a very near encounter with us, coming within 0.03 AUs of Earth on January 22, 2002. |
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