Earth Observatory of Singapore

Home to more than 50 million people, Myanmar is shaped like a giant kite with a long tail that sweeps down along the Andaman Sea.

Beneath the surface, invisible dangers affect Myanmar’s growing population, making it one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In the north, mountain ranges mark the northeast limit of the Indian tectonic plate, which has been colliding with the southern edge of the Eurasian plate for tens of millions of years. It is this interaction that has helped push...

In 2004, a devastating tsunami struck coastlines around the Indian Ocean. In a study of the long-term recovery of the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, we found that reconstruction aid provided mostly near the coast, combined with many people's preferences to move to safer areas instead, has had the unintended consequence whereby the poor have become disproportionately exposed to coastal hazards.

We propose to install 30 broadband seismometers to cover the seismic gap on the Sagaing fault and the neighbouring region, which is one of the most populated areas in Myanmar. The seismic data will be used to better understand the seismotectonic setting in the region. The proposed works include waveform modelling for earthquake focal mechanism and crustal and slab velocity structure, and determining micro-seismicity location, locking depth and the slip rate on the fault. These will be key for...

Barbot's team is developing geophysical marine robots to probe the deformation of the seafloor. The end goal is to extend geodetic measurements offshore to better understand earthquakes, tectonic processes and tsunami hazards.