What is the significance of a seismic gap?

Question

What is the significance of a seismic gap?

Answer 1

future earthquake site

"A seismic gap is a segment of an active geologic fault or subduction zone that has not slipped in an unusually long time; they are often considered susceptible to future strong earthquakes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_gap

Answer 2

Evidence suggests that subduction along the Andean margin is not heterogeneous. Anomalies in the subducting slab, whether in the form of asperities or thinned, fractured crust means that there is great variability in the angle of subduction. Along Peru and Ecuador, seismic data indicates a zone of flat subduction. Flat subduction changes the thermal structure of the margin, displacing the hot asthenospheric wedge away from the trench. This in turn results in a 5–10 times higher degree of upper plate seismicity is observed above flat-slab segments (compared to adjacent steep slab segments) implying a higher degree of interplate coupling.