Major quakes can trigger large aftershocks around the world: study

http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_21635947/major-quakes-can-trigger-large-aftershocks-around-world

This year's largest earthquake -- a magnitude-8.6 shaker in April in the East Indian Ocean -- did little damage but had an unexpected impact: It triggered aftershocks around the world as much as a week later, a new study reveals.

The findings suggest that a major earthquake's effects can extend farther and last longer than previously thought, shedding light on a threat that one day could set off the San Andreas or Hayward faults in the Bay Area.

Five times more quakes than expected occurred throughout the globe in the six days following the April 11 temblor near Sumatra, seismologists at UC Berkeley and the U.S. Geological Survey found. Major aftershocks jarred people thousands of miles away in Mexico and Japan.