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A fault plane is the plane that represents the fracture surface of a fault. A fault trace or fault line is a place where the fault can be seen or mapped on the surface. A fault trace is also the line commonly plotted on geologic maps to represent a fault. [3] [4] A fault zone is a cluster of parallel faults.
The New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ), sometimes called the New Madrid fault line (or fault zone or fault system), is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes (earthquakes within a tectonic plate) in the Southern and Midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.
Earthquakes are common on the West Coast, with multiple plate boundaries like the San Andreas fault making geologic activity more likely. They are rarer on the East Coast, but they do happen .
In its most general sense, an earthquake is any seismic event—whether natural or caused by humans—that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by the rupture of geological faults but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, fracking and nuclear tests.
A fault off the Pacific coast could devastate Washington, Oregon and Northern California with a major earthquake and tsunami. Researchers mapped it comprehensively for the first time.
The magnitude of an earthquake depends in part on the length of the geological fault on which the quake occurs. Longer faults result in stronger earthquakes. There are no known faults capable of ...
The point at which fault slipping begins is referred to as the focus of the earthquake. [8] The fault rupture begins at the focus and then expands along the fault surface. The rupture stops where the stresses become insufficient to continue breaking the fault (because the rocks are stronger) or where the rupture enters ductile material. [8]
The fault that ruptured beneath New Jersey on Friday morning was likely an ancient, sleeping seam in the Earth, awakened by geologic forces in a region where earthquakes are rare and seismic risks ...