{
  "id": 15795272,
  "title": "Devastating 2025 Myanmar earthquake sheds light on how the 'Big One' could play out in California",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/devastating-2025-myanmar-earthquake-sheds-light-on-how-the-big-one",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-20T20:04:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Science",
    "slug": "live-science",
    "url": "https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/earthquakes/devastating-2025-myanmar-earthquake-sheds-light-on-how-the-big-one-could-play-out-in-california"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A massive earthquake in Myanmar last year could help scientists better predict the potential impact of a major quake in California, according to a new study. The magnitude 7.7 quake struck near Mandalay on March 28, 2025, causing significant damage and at least 3,700 deaths. Detailed satellite data and unique video footage revealed that the fault had a twisted, helical shape, which influenced the extent of the shaking. Dr. Alice-Agnes Gabriel, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explained that studying this phenomenon could provide insights into future earthquakes on similar faults, such as California's San Andreas Fault. The researchers found that the fault was not a simple vertical plane, but rather dipped and undipped in various directions, affecting the intensity of shaking. If the Big One were to occur along the San Andreas Fault, the inland side, which is less populated than the coastal regions, might experience less severe shaking compared to the side dipping toward California's high desert. Despite the challenges in predicting exactly when and where an earthquake might happen, researchers believe they can better understand certain aspects of it by analyzing past events like the Myanmar quake.",
  "summary": "The fault that triggered a massive earthquake in Myanmar last year is tilted much like California's San Andreas, which can influence how much shaking takes place and where.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}