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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. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its hypocenter or focus. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.
Hypocenter (Focus) and epicenter of an earthquake. An earthquake's hypocenter or focus is the position where the strain energy stored in the rock is first released, marking the point where the fault begins to rupture. [3] This occurs directly beneath the epicenter, at a distance known as the hypocentral depth or focal depth. [3]
A submarine, undersea, or underwater earthquake is an earthquake that occurs underwater at the bottom of a body of water, especially an ocean. They are the leading cause of tsunamis. The magnitude can be measured scientifically by the use of the moment magnitude scale and the intensity can be assigned using the Mercalli intensity scale.
Because earthquakes can occur only when a rock is deforming in a brittle fashion, subduction zones can cause large earthquakes. If such a quake causes rapid deformation of the sea floor, there is potential for tsunamis. The largest tsunami ever recorded happened due to a mega-thrust earthquake on December 26, 2004. The earthquake was caused by ...
Earthquakes trace the path of the downward-moving plate as it descends into asthenosphere, a trench forms, and as the subducted plate is heated it releases volatiles, mostly water from hydrous minerals, into the surrounding mantle. The addition of water lowers the melting point of the mantle material above the subducting slab, causing it to melt.
They want to know if the combination of a single moderate earthquake in December and high water levels in the Wateree River during parts of this year have contributed to the earthquakes.
Seismology (/ s aɪ z ˈ m ɒ l ə dʒ i, s aɪ s-/; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (seismós) meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (-logía) meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic waves through planetary bodies.
A hole in a 600-mile-long fault line has been discovered at the bottom of the Pacific ocean - and it could be the trigger of a magnitude-9 earthquake on the US coast. Just outside of Oregon ...