Recorded vs. simulated

Each earthquake below was filmed by people who lived through it, and simulated by us from the published source parameters. Watch the two side by side: real shaking caught on camera, and our physics animation driven by the ground motion simulated for the same earthquake, at or near the place it was filmed.

Expect them to differ. A simulation is one plausible version of the rupture in a simplified crust, and at one place it can be off by a level or more. Why a simulation can differ from what was filmed.