Traditionally, geologists focused on the earthquake energy spent directly on the fault plane (the primary slip plane). However, our study of the Lisan Formation, the paleo Dead Sea, revealed that in soft sediments, the energy is not just used to create one shear plane. Instead, it bleeds out into a wide "damage zone" surrounding the fault. We mapped the damage zones, measured the rheology of the sediments using a rotary shear apparatus, and used an SEM to see how the fine grains and crystals behave within the damage zone. Based on measurements and observations, we estimate that up to 85% of the earthquake energy that reaches the surface is spent on creating tiny cracks, typically ranging from mm to m in size, and rearranging grains in the volume around the fault, rather than on the primary slip plane itself. At greater depths, the rocks crush into smaller pieces, but at the soft, brine-saturated strata near the surface (tens of meters), the grains slide and roll over one another. This granular-flow process can act like a brake, absorbing a significant portion of the seismic energy, slowing down and even halting the rupture propagation. Our analysis may explain the slow rupture velocities and low radiation efficiencies observed in shallow ruptures in soft sediments.