what causes a earthquake
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What does earthquake mean? Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.
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A Model of Three Faults An earthquake is a sudden movement of the Earth, caused by the abrupt release of strain that has accumulated over a long time. For hundreds of millions of years, the forces of plate tectonics have shaped the Earth as the plates that form the Earth's surface slowly move over, under, and past each other.
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Why do volcanoes and earthquakes occur? The process of an earthquake: 1  When the crusts travel pass each other and a collision occurs in the process. 2  Pressure builds up. 3  Pressure gets released.  The plates keep 1  moving. This release of the built-up of pressure and the movement of the plates are solely responsible for the earthquakes.
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Earthquake Facts: Why do Earthquakes Happen? Earthquakes can also be caused by construction of large buildings and dams, injecting liquid into wells, oil drilling or any deep mining activity in general. Undersea earthquakes can cause tsunamis. Most of the world's earthquakes take place in the 40,000-km-long, horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific seismic belt, also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, which for the most part bounds the Pacific Plate.
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What Caused the Chilean Earthquake? Faults Explained Most earthquakes arise along such fault zones. The ground first bends and then snaps—an earthquake—to release energy along faults. Here are a list of the various ways Earth can shake.
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- Ground Shaking-Shaking of the ground caused by the passage of seismic waves near the epicenter of the earthquake is responsible for the collapse of most structures. The intensity of ground shaking depends on distance from the epicenter and on the type of bedrock underlying the area.
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Earthquakes Earthquakes usually happens along a fault plate, the border between plates: Global plate tectonic map (click to enlarge the map). Earthquakes often trigger landslides, tidal waves and tsunamis. Powerful aftershocks frequently occur, causing further damage and increasing psychological stress.ntensity scales, like the Modified Mercalli scale and the Rossi-Forel scale, measure the amount of shaking at a particular location. So the intensity of an earthquake will vary depending on where you are. Sometimes earthquakes are referred to by the maximum intensity they produce.
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- Earthquakes are caused by the movements of the huge tectonic plates that make up Earth’s outer crust. Driven by currents in the semi-molten layer below the crust, the plates slowly drift over Earth’s surface and collide, grind together, or pull apart.
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What causes earthquakes? Why Do Earthquakes Happen? Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little. They don't just slide smoothly; the rocks catch on each other.
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- An earthquake is ground shaking caused by a sudden movement of rock in the earth’s crust. Such movements occur along faults, which are thin zones of crushed rock separating blocks of crust. Surface faulting, in which the surface of the ground along one side of a fault is displaced horizontally or vertically in relation to the ground on the other side. 2  Tsunamis, which can be triggered by earthquake-induced underwater landslides or by surface faulting that occurs on the floor of the ocean.
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What Causes An Earthquake ? The same events occur in an earthquake. There is a sudden movement within the crust or mantle, and concentric shock waves move out from that point. Geologists and Geographers call the origin of the earthquake the focus.ectonic Earthquakes. Tectonic earthquakes are triggered when the crust becomes subjected to strain, and eventually moves. The theory of plate tectonics explains how the crust of the Earth is made of several plates, large areas of crust which float on the Mantle.
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- There are two main ways of measuring earthquakes: The first is by measuring the amount of energy released underground, and the second is by measuring the effects above ground. Measuring earthquakes › What causes an earthquake? › › Earthquakes are caused by sudden movements deep in Earth’s crust. What causes an earthquake?
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- On the surface, this moves and shakes the ground and can be very damaging to poorly built structures. The most powerful earthquakes can destroy even the best built structures. They can also cause other disasters, such as tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes occur along fault lines and are unpredictable.
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Earthquake or tremor: What's the difference? Undersea earthquakes can cause a tsunami, or a series of waves which can cross an ocean and cause extensive damage to coastal regions. The destruction from strong earthquake shaking can be worsened by fires caused by downed power lines and ruptured gas mains.
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- Earthquakes occur when energy stored in elastically strained rocks is suddenly released. This release of energy causes intense ground shaking in the area near the source of the earthquake and sends waves of elastic energy, called seismic waves, throughout the Earth.
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What does earthquake mean? In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether natural or caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests.
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The Causes of Earthquakes The release of energy during an earthquake is very much the same. The plates get stuck, building up tension. Suddenly, the tension releases and both plates break free. The tension that was built up gets sent through the ground, which is what causes all the shaking in the first place.
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- EDIT2: The reason that earthquakes occur more around Tectonic plates is because they grind and move on each other and that is what causes the earth quakes to happen. After they grind long enough fault lines spread out towards the middl of the plates much like a crack in a windshield of a car spreads out.
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Which Actors Have Died the Most in Movies? Some actors have played the hero and others have made a career out of portraying the despicable villain, but the good guys and bad guys share one common trait: many of them have died multiple times in their movies. ChaCha.com has gifted us with an answer to a question that may be plaguing the most morbid of cinephiles -- which actors have died the most during their careers? A nifty little diagram -- which you can check out in the gallery below -- maps out how many times 15 of Hollywood's most killed stars have met their maker, along with an interesting fact about each one.
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High School Earth Science/Nature of Earthquakes The earthquake happens when so much stress builds up in the rocks that the rocks rupture. An earthquake's energy is transmitted by seismic waves. Each year there are more than 150,000 earthquakes strong enough to be felt by people and 900,000 recorded by seismometers.
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What Caused the Chilean Earthquake? Faults Explained It really takes the movement of crustal plates to uncork a massive earthquake, such as the magnitude 9.0 quake off the coast of Japan in 2011, which was caused by the Pacific plate moving under Asia. But humanity has figured out ways to trigger small quakes as well.
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- Earthquakes occur in the oceans as well as on land because the seafloor is made of crust just like the continents we live on. A tsunami, which is a series of large water waves caused by an earthquake, landslide, or volcano, occurs when one of these natural phenomena vertically displaces the water.
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What causes earthquakes? Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little.They don't just slide smoothly; the rocks catch on each other. The rocks are still pushing against each other, but not moving.his sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little. They don't just slide smoothly; the rocks catch on each other.
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- Causes. An earthquake is the shaking and vibration of the Earth's crust due to movement of the Earth's plates (plate tectonics). Earthquakes can happen along any type of plate boundary. Earthquakes occur when tension is released from inside the crust.arthquakes are caused by the release of built-up pressure inside the Earth's crust. An earthquake's power is measured on the Richter scale [Richter Scale: A logarithmic scale used to measure the impact of an earthquake by measuring the amount of energy it generates. ] using an instrument called a 'seismometer'.
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- Earthquakes occur when the two sides of a fault slip suddenly against each other. The Pacific and North American plates move past each other about 1.5 inches a year. The friction between the plates causes stress, which is released when the blocks of crust slip suddenly along a fault plane.
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What is an earthquake and what causes them to happen? The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel. In California there are two plates - the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The Pacific Plate consists of most of the Pacific Ocean floor and the California Coast line. The North American Plate comprises most the North American Continent and parts of the Atlantic Ocean floor.