seismic gap

noun

1. the part of an active fault that has experienced little or no seismic activity for a long period, indicating the buildup of stresses that are useful in predicting earthquakes.

Example Sentences

Large earthquakes have marched westward along the fault, leaving an obvious seismic gap beneath the Sea of Marmara, dangerously close to Istanbul, one of the most populous cities on Earth.

Read more on Washington Post

But scientists do expect that the warning system will prove immensely helpful when a huge earthquake ruptures in the ominous Guerrero seismic gap, a 125-mile-long zone that hasn’t ruptured in a major earthquake since 1911, which could provide substantial warning to Mexico City before heavy shaking waves arrive and resonate and slosh in the capital’s basin.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

If you look at this diagram, you'll see the January 2020 M7.7 quake happened in a seismic gap, an area of the fault that was surrounded by large earthquakes but hadn't experienced any itself for well over a century.

Read more on Scientific American

In a bit of good news amidst the devastation, the quake and its numerous aftershocks may have eased some of the pressure on a worrisome seismic gap in the vicinity.

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One spot where the two plates engage, called the Shumagin Seismic Gap, has never been known to initiate a major quake.

Read more on Scientific American