section_path: Earthquake/Rupture process
section_name: Rupture process
paragraph_text: Rupture process
  
  According to a finite fault model released by the USGS, the earthquake rupture extended about 530 km (330 mi) by 20 km (12 mi) from Singu in Mandalay to Kyauktaga in Bago. From the epicenter the rupture propagated more than 85 km (53 mi) to the north and terminated just south of Singu. About 445 km (277 mi) of the rupture occurred to the south where it terminated at Kyauktaga. Most of the slip which exceeded 1 m (3 ft 3 in) was concentrated between Singu and Oktwin while less than 1 m (3 ft 3 in) of slip occurred beneath Pyu and further south. A gap with an apparent lack of slip exists between Naypyidaw and Pyu which the USGS attributes to a lack of observations. A maximum slip of 4.3334 m (14.217 ft) was recorded southeast of the hypocenter, between Sagaing and Amarapura. The entire rupture process took just over 80 seconds with the greatest phase of seismic moment release occurring about 30 seconds after initiation. The rupture is thought to have propagated at speeds in excess of the shear wave velocity, making this an example of a supershear earthquake.
  
  Satellite data also confirmed the inferred observations of an exceptionally long surface rupture extending from Kyaukmyaung, Sagaing to Penwegon, Bago. The length of the surface rupture from satellite data was 500 km (310 mi). Throughout most of the rupture, slip at the surface exceeded 3 m (9.8 ft) while around the epicenter area, reached 4–5 m (13–16 ft). A study of satellite data at the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan revealed that up to 6 m (20 ft) of horizontal displacement occurred along the fault. Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology published their finite fault model comprising three north–south trending segments. They proposed that each segment produced a magnitude 7.5 and ruptured for a total length of 500 km (310 mi). The three segment ruptures corresponded in a cumulative moment magnitude of 7.8. According to their model, the earthquake produced a maximum slip of 7.4 m (24 ft) at a depth of 1.9 km (1.2 mi) along the central segment north of Naypyidaw. The earthquake produced one of the longest ruptures observed in the world, surpassing the lengths recorded by other large strike-slip events such as the 2002 Denali, 2009 Swan Islands, 2023 Turkey–Syria and 2013 Balochistan earthquakes.
  
  A 2011 study by Nobuo Hurukawa and Phyo Maung Maung in Geophysical Research Letters identified two seismic gaps along the Sagaing Fault. One of these gaps is located in central Myanmar between 19.2 degrees north and 21.5 degrees north, corresponding to the Meiktila segment. The pair concluded that this 260 km (160 mi) gap could produce a magnitude 7.9 earthquake if it completely ruptures. The Meiktila and Sagaing segment (to the north) may have been the source of the 1839 Ava earthquake. It is believed to have ruptured 285–325 km (177–202 mi) of the fault on both segments. A study of the seismic intensity distribution suggest the estimated magnitude of the 1839 event was 7.9.
  
  Seismologists Judith Hubbard and Kyle Bradley said this seismic gap is located between the 1929 (Naypyidaw segment) and 1956 (southern Sagaing segment) ruptures. The pair said the 2025 earthquake ruptured the entire seismic gap and extended further north and south of it based on their analysis of the finite fault model by the USGS. The rupture extent corresponded with the Pyu, Naypyidaw, Meiktila and the southern part of the Sagaing segments. The southern extent of the rupture overlapped the rupture zones of the 1929 (Naypyidaw segment) and December 1930 (Pyu segment) earthquakes. The fault extent involved in the M 7.1 earthquake in 1956 also seemed to have moved during the 28 March 2025 event. They estimated that the rupture terminated in the north just south of the 2012 Shwebo earthquake rupture (which occurred on the central Sagaing segment).