As casualties of the typhoon in the Philippines are still in recovery, recent research by UC Santa Cruz outlined the cause of the tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011, Futurity.org reported.

Scientists already knew the tsunami was triggered by an underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0, but they didn't know how or why the fault line behaved so disproportionately. It actually ruptured up to the sea floor, which almost never happens as an earthquake's epicenter is typically deep below the surface, according to the press release.

Scientists blamed the long reach of the fault line and its unusually slippery nature, which created 50 meters of movement, for the earthquake's dramatic impacts.

"The large slip at shallow depths contributed to the tsumani that caused so much damage in Japan. Usually, these earthquakes don't rupture all the way to the surface," said study researcher Patrick Fulton.

Obtaning friction readings (really just taking the temperature of a fault line) is difficult because their "signal is week and dissipates over time," according to Emily Brodsky, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UCSC. The sheer force of this earthquake gave scientists enough data to conduct their research. It was the first study ever to measure friction during an earthquake, according to the release.

Fulton and fellow UC Santa Cruz researchers believe the fault's natural slip was excacerbated by a build-up of clay around its gap.

"The Tohoku fault is more slippery than anyone expected," said Brodsky.

The natural disaster manifested in a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate "drives beneath another," according to the release. More stress in subduction zones mean less movement between plates and a reduced chance for an earthquake.