Buried rupture earthquake

In seismology, a buried rupture earthquake, or blind earthquake, is an earthquake which does not produce a visible offset in the ground along the fault (as opposed to a surface rupture earthquake, which does).

When the fault in question is a thrust fault, the earthquake is known as a blind thrust earthquake.

Recorded ground motions of large surface-rupture earthquakes are weaker than the ground motions from buried rupture earthquakes.

[1] The asperity for a buried rupture earthquakes is in area deeper than roughly 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).

[2] As compared to the seabed surface rupture case, uplifted water outside the fault plane in buried rupture earthquakes makes for large tsunami waves.

The Northridge earthquake was a buried rupture earthquake, [ 1 ] which caused massive surface damage
The Cypress Street Viaduct 's collapsed upper deck and failed support columns, from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , which was a buried rupture earthquake, [ 1 ]