"The famed San Andreas Fault in California is nearly identical to the one that caused the destructive tremor in Myanmar, and is also overdue for an earthquake."
"For more than a century, stress was mounting across a section of an 800-mile-long crack in Myanmar. Known as the Sagaing Fault, the crack ran between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which were locked deeper below the surface. The Indian plate was moving north but snagged, building tension like a coiled spring — until it finally released as a deadly 7.7-magnitude earthquake Friday.
“We absolutely thought that it would occur sometime in our lifetimes … but there’s really no way to say when it would occur,” Eric Lindsey, a geophysicist at the University of New Mexico, said in a phone interview. “It’s absolutely devastating to see it actually take place.”
The powerful earthquake has killed more than 2,000 people and damaged skyscrapers, airports and many buildings. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that economic losses could exceed the entire gross domestic product of Myanmar, which is about $67 billion."
Kasha Patel reports for the Washington Post April 1, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Without USAID, Myanmar Is Struggling to Recover From Its Massive Earthquake" (Mother Jones)
"Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response in Myanmar" (New York Times)
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