India Dispatches Humanitarian Aid to Myanmar Under 'Operation Brahma' After 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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India Dispatches Humanitarian Aid to Myanmar Under 'Operation Brahma' After 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake

Posted 29 Mar 2025

2 min read

The earthquake, with a depth of 10 km, was the strongest in two years. The shallow depth had intensified shockwaves, as they travelled from focus (Earthquake's origin point beneath surface) to surface.

  • The quake’s epicentre (Ground surface directly above the focus) was located ~17 km from Mandalay (Myanmar).

What caused the Earthquake?

  • Strike-Slip Fault: The Myanmar earthquake occurred due to "strike-slip faulting" (Sagaing fault) between the Indian and Eurasian plates.
  • About the Sagaing Fault
    • Location: Runs from north to south through Myanmar, and marks the boundary between Indian and Eurasian plates.
    • Feature: It’s one of the longest and most activestrike-slip faults globally, spanning 1,500 km
    • Tectonic Movement: Indian plate is moving northward compared to Eurasian plate, causing stress along fault.

About Fault

  • Definition: Faults are fractures in the Earth's crust where rocks move relative to each other, caused by tectonic stress.
    • The movement along these fault planes releases accumulated strain, leading to earthquakes.

The primary types of faults are (See image):

  • Normal Fault: The hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall, common at divergent boundaries. E.g., East African Rift Valley and the Basin
  • Reverse Fault: The hanging wall moves upward, occurring at convergent boundaries due to compression. E.g., the Rocky Mountains and the Himalayan Mountains.
  • Strike-Slip Fault: Horizontal movement, minimal vertical displacement. E.g., Anatolia Fault, Turkey.
  • Transform Fault: A type of strike-slip fault, forming boundaries between tectonic plates. E.g., San Andreas Fault, California.
  • Tags :
  • Sagaing Fault
  • Eurasian plates
  • epicentre
  • Focus
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