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An earthquake is what happens when the seismic energy from plates slipping past each other rattles the planet's surface. Those seismic waves are like ripples on a pond, the USGS said.
The initial point of rupture is called the hypocenter or focus, while the ground level directly above it is the epicenter. Earthquakes are primarily caused by geological faults, but also by volcanic activity, landslides, and other seismic events. The frequency, type, and size of earthquakes in an area define its seismic activity, reflecting the ...
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]
During an earthquake, seismic waves propagates in all directions from the hypocenter. Seismic shadowing occurs on the opposite side of the Earth from the earthquake epicenter because the planet's liquid outer core refracts the longitudinal or compressional while it absorbs the transverse or shear waves . Outside the seismic shadow zone, both ...
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.
It's a logarithmic scale, meaning each number is 10 times as strong as the one before it. So a 5.0 earthquake is ten times stronger than a 4.0. So a 5.0 earthquake is ten times stronger than a 4.0.
A tectonic earthquake begins by an initial rupture at a point on the fault surface, a process known as nucleation. The scale of the nucleation zone is uncertain, with some evidence, such as the rupture dimensions of the smallest earthquakes, suggesting that it is smaller than 100 m while other evidence, such as a slow component revealed by low-frequency spectra of some earthquakes, suggest ...
An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes cause tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and destruction of property. An earthquake is ...