Active faults and seismic hazard in MyanmarThe second-largest country in Southeast Asia, Myanmar, is home to over 60 million people. Thiscountry lies in the complex boundary zone on the eastern edge of the Indian plate. Due to itspolitical isolation, the country has been largely inaccessible to the western world for half acentury (military rule from 1962-2011). Given that plate tectonics, the foundation on whichmodern earthquake science relies, only gained acceptance in the 1960s, little is known aboutthe geology of this region or its related hazards.SearchHome Judith Hubbard - Structural Geology Projects Active faults and seismic hazard inMyanmarActive faults and seismic hazard in MyanmarAboutPeopleResearchOutreachResourcesNews & EventsAsian School of the EnvironmentIntranetActive faults and seismic hazard in Myanmar | Pr... http://www.earthobservatory.sg/project/active-faul...1 of 4 12/08/2015 07:29Active faults and seismic hazard in Myanmar | Pr... http://www.earthobservatory.sg/project/active-faul...2 of 4 12/08/2015 07:29Map of Myanmar and surrounding regions. Mapped thrust faults (targets for seismicacquisition) shown in red; shaded red regions show compressive zones with inferred additionalthrust faulting. Sagaing fault is shown for reference. Yellow circles show cities with populations> 500,000. Blue squares show oil and gas elds. Basemap from Wang and Sieh et al. (in prep).A general election in 2010 led to a more democratic government being installed in Myanmar in2011. This change in leadership has led to an opening of some doors to science, and is alreadyaccelerating opportunities for research and hazard mitigation in this region. The rst stepstowards outlining seismic hazards have been taken by scientists at the Earth Observatory ofSingapore (e.g., Wang and Sieh et al., 2011, Wang and Sieh et al., in prep), in collaboration withscientists within Myanmar; they have begun to map the active structures in this region. Inparticular, they have measured a slip rate on the north-south-trending strike-slip Sagaing faultof 11-18 mm/yr. Although extremely fast, this slip accounts for only ~50% of the dierentialmovement between the Burma plate to the west and the Sunda plate to the east, implying thata number of other, active structures must exist in this region. They have begun to map theseother structures based on satellite imagery, using geomorphic indicators of active deformation(Figure 6). Such structures include a large band of contractional deformation termed theIntraplate Deformation zone. Combining this initial mapping of the Intraplate Deformation zone in a 3D environment withseismicity records (which are available for the last several decades) will allow me and my teamto develop an initial 3D fault model to support continued research in this region. In addition,this area contains important reserves of oil and gas that extend along the trend of theIntraplate Deformation zone, so industry data should be available as well. The current political change in Myanmar provides a tremendous opportunity to advancescientic research and mitigate hazard. This political change also makes these eorts toconstrain seismic hazard even more critical, as a large, damaging earthquake in Myanmarcould potentially derail this burgeoning democracy. Maintaining this nascent democratic anddevelopmental impetus is important for improving the political and economic stability of thisregion, as well as improving the lives of the 60 million people who live in Myanmar.Gallery:EOS Team: Principal Investigator: Judith HubbardImagery 2015 NASA Terms of Use Imagery 2015 NASAActive faults and seismic hazard in Myanmar | Pr... http://www.earthobservatory.sg/project/active-faul...3 of 4 12/08/2015 07:29Related ResourcesFacilitiesMyanmar-Bangladesh-Assam GPS NetworkView Also:Uplift of the Longmenshan and the Tibetan PlateauStructural setting of the 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan, China, earthquakeStructure and seismic hazard of the Ventura Avenue Anticline and Ventura fault, CaliforniaBuilding a Community Fault Model (CFM) and Community Velocity Model (CVM) in the Sichuanbasin and LongmenshanGeometry and kinematics of the Main Frontal Thrust, HimalayaBangladesh: Active faults in the Chittagong-Tripura fold beltContact Us CareersAn Institute ofSponsored byIntranet Earth Observatory of Singapore, NTUActive faults and seismic hazard in Myanmar | Pr... http://www.earthobservatory.sg/project/active-faul...4 of 4 12/08/2015 07:29