GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Earthquakes are the result of sudden movement along faults within the Earth. The movement releases stored-up ‘elastic strain’ energy in the form of seismic waves, which propagate through the Earth and cause the ground surface to shake.

Detailed explanation-2: -An earthquake is the sudden movement of Earth’s crust at a fault line. This photograph shows the San Andreas Fault, a 750-mile-long fault in California. Credit: Public Domain. The location where an earthquake begins is called the epicenter. An earthquake’s most intense shaking is often felt near the epicenter.

Detailed explanation-3: -There are two types of earthquakes: tectonic and volcanic earthquakes. Tectonic earthquakes are produced by sudden movement along faults and plate boundaries. Earthquakes induced by rising lava or magma beneath active volcanoes is called volcanic earthquakes.

Detailed explanation-4: -The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth’s crust and cause the shaking that we feel.

Detailed explanation-5: -The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane. The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter.