Direct Estimation of Earthquake Source Properties from a Single CCTV Camera

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to directly measure earthquake slip and rupture properties from a single CCTV video, revealing detailed rupture dynamics and energy characteristics of the 2025 Mandalay earthquake.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for estimating earthquake source properties directly from video footage, enabling detailed rupture analysis from a single camera.

Findings

Slip duration of 1.4 seconds

Cumulative slip of approximately 3 meters

Peak slip velocity of about 3.5 m/s

Abstract

We present a direct measurement of the slip-rate function from a natural coseismic rupture, recorded on March 28, 2025, during the $M_w$ 7.7 Mandalay earthquake (Myanmar). This measurement was made on video footage of the surface rupture captured by a security camera located only meters away from the fault trace. Using direct image analysis, we measured the relative slip at each time step and deduced the slip rate. Our results show a local slip duration of 1.4 s and cumulative slip of $\sim$3 m, during which surface slip velocity peaked at $\sim$3.5 m/s with passage of the rupture front. These findings demonstrate the pulse-like nature of the seismic rupture, at the location of the recording. Using slip-pulse elastodynamic rupture models, we obtain the complete mechanical properties of this pulse, including the energy release rate.