How earthquakes happen
In short: Moving plates lock along a fault, strain builds, the fault slips and seismic waves shake the ground.
1. Tectonic plates move slowly, and the sides of a fault move past each other. 2. Friction along the fault can lock the rocks together. 3. As the plates keep moving, elastic strain builds up in the locked rocks. 4. When the strain overcomes the friction, the fault suddenly slips. 5. The released energy travels out as seismic waves, which shake the ground.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Elastic-rebound theory (Wikipedia)” (CC BY-SA 4.0); Wikipedia, “Earthquake (Wikipedia)” (CC BY-SA 4.0). Illustrative, not to scale.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Elastic-rebound theory
- Also: Earthquake
- Also: earthquake.usgs.gov — Reid's Elastic Rebound Theory
- Also: www.britannica.com — Elastic rebound theory | geology | Britannica
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