In order to investigate the applicability of the asperity model to intraplate earthquakes we have studied the rupture process of the great 1977 Sumba normal-faulting earthquake (Mw=8.2-8.3), one of the largest earthquakes since 1963. This event has been variously interpreted as a plate detachment event (i.e., rupture through the entire lithosphere) or a shallow plate-bending event. We have anal...
