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The earthquake cycle refers to the phenomenon that earthquakes repeatedly occur on the same fault as the result of continual stress accumulation and periodic stress release. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Earthquake cycles can occur on a variety of faults including subduction zones and continental faults.
Diagram of Wadati–Benioff zone, from the United States Geological Survey Seismicity cross-section, Kuril Islands subduction zone, 15 November 2006, 8.3 M w event marked as star A Wadati–Benioff zone (also Benioff–Wadati zone or Benioff zone or Benioff seismic zone ) is a planar zone of seismicity corresponding with the down-going slab in ...
Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere on the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increases the frictional resistance.
Induced seismicity, typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on the Earth's crust. [10] Interplate earthquake, an earthquake that occurs at the boundary between tectonic plates. [11] Intraplate earthquake, an earthquake that occurs within the interior of a tectonic plate. [12 ...
Earthquakes are common along convergent boundaries. A region of high earthquake activity, the Wadati–Benioff zone, generally dips 45° and marks the subducting plate. Earthquakes will occur to a depth of 670 km (416 mi) along the Wadati-Benioff margin. [citation needed] Both compressional and extensional forces act along convergent boundaries.
Strong earthquakes can occur along a fault. The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary exhibiting dextral motion. Other plate boundary zones occur where the effects of the interactions are unclear, and the boundaries, usually occurring along a broad belt, are not well defined and may show various types of ...
The path that a wave takes between the focus and the observation point is often drawn as a ray diagram. Each path is denoted by a set of letters that describe the trajectory and phase through the Earth. In general, an upper case denotes a transmitted wave and a lower case denotes a reflected wave. The two exceptions to this seem to be "g" and "n".
Earthquakes are a major factor in the creation of tsunami waves. As interplate earthquakes result in an immediate release of stress along a fault, they produce significant seismic energy and can cause seafloor uplift, generating large waves as the energy from the sudden slip along the fault is transferred to the overlying water body.