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: -Earthquakes are usually caused when underground rock suddenly breaks and there is rapid motion along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake.

Detailed explanation-3: -While all earthquakes occur on faults, not all faults have earthquakes. A fault is simply a fracture in rock material accompanied by displacement along the two sides of the fracture. If the displacement occurs slowly enough, no earthquake waves are generated.

Detailed explanation-4: -An earthquake releases energy at many frequencies, and in order to compute an accurate value, you have to include all frequencies of shaking for the entire event. While each whole number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in the measured amplitude, it represents an 32 times more energy release.

Detailed explanation-5: -While most earthquakes are caused by the slipping of tectonic plates, minor earthquakes can also be caused by volcanic eruptions, collapse of rock formations on Earth’s surface, or underground explosions.