Geological fault under Tokyo 10x shallower than previously thought

CNN : Tokyo fault could produce 'intense shaking'

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Originally Posted by CNN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fault that has twice caused major earthquakes in the Tokyo area may be shallower and more hazardous than previously thought.

The Philippine Sea plate dives beneath the Eurasian plate in this area. Newly developed seismic profiles indicate that the top surface of that plate ranges from 2.4 miles to 15.6 miles below the surface of the land. That is much shallower than earlier estimates that placed the top of the plate as much as 24 miles deep.
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Sato's report is based on high-resolution images of the area where the giant plates meet and move against one another.

He likened it to using a flashlight to see beneath the land surface. Such a precise survey has never been attempted around the Tokyo metropolitan area, he said in an e-mail interview.

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