Dramatic Video Shows “First-Ever” Fault Movement Surface Rupture Caught On Camera

On March 28, 2025, the city of Mandalay, Myanmar was hit by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake which was felt as far away as Thailand, leaving at least 4,900 people dead. 

“Originating along the Sagaing Fault, a 1,400-km-long [870-mile] dextral strike-slip boundary separating the Burma Microplate and Sunda Plate, the earthquake propagated a supershear rupture over 460 km [286 miles], with surface displacements exceeding 6 meters [20 feet],” a paper on the earthquake explains. “The shallow (10 km [6-mile] depth) strike-slip mechanism unleashed violent shaking (Modified Mercalli Intensity IX) across densely populated urban centers, including Mandalay, Sagaing, and Naypyidaw, while amplifying seismic energy in distant regions such as Bangkok, Thailand.”

A video, reportedly filmed near Thazi, Myanmar, appears to show the moment two blocks of earth move past each other. Focus on the background in the short video, and you will see the landscape slide around.

The video appears to show a strike slip fault, which can occur as two blocks of rock slip past each other.

“A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake – or may occur slowly, in the form of creep,” the US Geological Survey explains, adding that the San Andreas Fault is an example of a right lateral slip fault.

“Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers. Most faults produce repeated displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other. The fault surface can be horizontal or vertical or some arbitrary angle in between.”

Though the “everything has a camera in it” age has given us footage of earthquakes around the world, this appears to be the first example of a fault shift being caught in the act, or at least so dramatically.

“The focal mechanism analysis indicated that the earthquake resulted from strike-slip faulting at a shallow depth of 10 km [6 miles], consistent with rupture activity along the Sagaing Fault,” the study continues.

“From the epicenter, the rupture propagated over 75 km [47 miles] to the north, terminating just south of Singu, while a more extensive rupture of 420 km [261 miles] occurred to the south, ending near Pyu. The most significant fault slip exceeding 1 meter [3 feet] was concentrated in the section between Singu and Oktwin. In contrast, regions beneath and south of Pyu experienced less than 1 meter of displacement.”

The team adds that the largest slip of 4.3 meters (14 feet) was recorded between Sagaing and Amarapura.

“The entire rupture process spanned just over 80 seconds, with the highest seismic moment release occurring approximately 30 seconds after initiation. The rupture velocity is believed to have exceeded the shear wave velocity, classifying the event as a supershear earthquake.”