--- title: New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang”... description: MIT researchers discovered that "boomerang" earthquakes—which reverse direction and travel back along their path—can occur on simple, straight faults, not just... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/new-study-unveils-the-mechanism-behind-boomerang-earthquakes-duiixyx4f twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang” earthquakes | daily.dev og:description: MIT researchers discovered that "boomerang" earthquakes—which reverse direction and travel back along their path—can occur on simple, straight faults, not just... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/new-study-unveils-the-mechanism-behind-boomerang-earthquakes-duiixyx4f og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/dUiiXYX4f.png og:image:alt: New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang” earthquakes og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang” earthquakes **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIT researchers discovered that "boomerang" earthquakes—which reverse direction and travel back along their path—can occur on simple, straight faults, not just complex fault systems. The study identifies three key conditions: unidirectional propagation, sufficient distance traveled, and rapidly changing friction along the fault. These conditions are relatively common, suggesting such events may be more frequent than previously detected. The findings have implications for seismic hazard assessment, as buildings experience amplified shaking in the direction of rupture, meaning areas could be shaken twice during a single event. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Under 10% of an earthquake’s energy makes the ground shake](https://daily.dev/posts/under-10-of-an-earthquake-s-energy-makes-the-ground-shake-hchgu7trg) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Thunder \+ fiber-optic cabling used for seismic imaging](https://daily.dev/posts/thunder-fiber-optic-cabling-used-for-seismic-imaging-cbkiahldr) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Earthquake Sensors Hear Hurricanes’ Hidden Turbulence](https://daily.dev/posts/earthquake-sensors-hear-hurricanes-hidden-turbulence-f1h5lnr2r) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Quantum Systems Never Quite Forget Where They Came From](https://daily.dev/posts/quantum-systems-never-quite-forget-where-they-came-from-uvasfnssq) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#mit](https://daily.dev/tags/mit) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/new-study-unveils-the-mechanism-behind-boomerang-earthquakes-duiixyx4f) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang” earthquakes","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/new-study-unveils-the-mechanism-behind-boomerang-earthquakes-duiixyx4f","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/new-study-unveils-the-mechanism-behind-boomerang-earthquakes-duiixyx4f"},"datePublished":"2026-02-18T05:05:36.717Z","dateModified":"2026-02-18T05:05:57.157Z","description":"MIT researchers discovered that \"boomerang\" earthquakes—which reverse direction and travel back along their path—can occur on simple, straight faults, not just...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3c753096eb70f35ea1ea43bf44fc1634?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3c753096eb70f35ea1ea43bf44fc1634?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"MIT News","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"MIT News","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/881e20a40aa44b12ba4bd27f5c14289d","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/new-study-unveils-the-mechanism-behind-boomerang-earthquakes-duiixyx4f","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"mit","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MIT News","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang” earthquakes"}]} ```