megathrust

English

Etymology

From mega- +‎ thrust.

Noun

megathrust (plural megathrusts)

1. (geology) A sudden large-scale slip along a fault between a subducting and an overriding plate, resulting in a major earthquake.
   • 2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 458:

     On March 11, 2011, at 2:46 p.m., a magnitude-9 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan.