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75-577: The lake formed in 1911, after a great earthquake , when the Murghab River was blocked by a big landslide. Scientists believe that the landslide dam formed by the earthquake, known as the Usoi Dam , is unstable given local seismicity , and that the terrain below the lake is in danger of catastrophic flood if the dam were to fail during a future earthquake. The Usoi Dam wall survived a localised 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the  2015 Tajikistan earthquake , on

150-427: A detachment layer is present. Thrust tectonics is associated with the shortening and thickening of the crust, or the lithosphere. This type of tectonics is found at zones of continental collision , at restraining bends in strike-slip faults, and at the oceanward part of passive margin sequences where a detachment layer is present. Strike-slip tectonics is associated with the relative lateral movement of parts of

225-729: A tsunami . Earthquakes can trigger landslides . Earthquakes' occurrence is influenced by tectonic movements along faults, including normal, reverse (thrust), and strike-slip faults, with energy release and rupture dynamics governed by the elastic-rebound theory . Efforts to manage earthquake risks involve prediction, forecasting, and preparedness, including seismic retrofitting and earthquake engineering to design structures that withstand shaking. The cultural impact of earthquakes spans myths, religious beliefs, and modern media, reflecting their profound influence on human societies. Similar seismic phenomena, known as marsquakes and moonquakes , have been observed on other celestial bodies, indicating

300-571: A depth of less than 70 km (43 mi) are classified as "shallow-focus" earthquakes, while those with a focal depth between 70 and 300 km (43 and 186 mi) are commonly termed "mid-focus" or "intermediate-depth" earthquakes. In subduction zones, where older and colder oceanic crust descends beneath another tectonic plate, deep-focus earthquakes may occur at much greater depths (ranging from 300 to 700 km (190 to 430 mi)). These seismically active areas of subduction are known as Wadati–Benioff zones . Deep-focus earthquakes occur at

375-488: A depth where the subducted lithosphere should no longer be brittle, due to the high temperature and pressure. A possible mechanism for the generation of deep-focus earthquakes is faulting caused by olivine undergoing a phase transition into a spinel structure. Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the movement of magma in volcanoes . Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic eruptions, as during

450-475: A few exceptions to this: Supershear earthquake ruptures are known to have propagated at speeds greater than the S wave velocity. These have so far all been observed during large strike-slip events. The unusually wide zone of damage caused by the 2001 Kunlun earthquake has been attributed to the effects of the sonic boom developed in such earthquakes. Slow earthquake ruptures travel at unusually low velocities. A particularly dangerous form of slow earthquake

525-512: A landslide caused two-meter-high waves in the lake. A 1997 conference in Dushanbe concluded that the dam was unstable and might collapse if there were another powerful earthquake. A 2004 study by the World Bank held that the dam was stable. The principal danger seems to be a partially detached mass of rock of about 3 cubic kilometres that could break loose and fall into the lake. Since the valley below

600-603: A particular location in the Earth is the average rate of seismic energy release per unit volume. One of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history was the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake , which occurred on 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi , China. More than 830,000 people died. Most houses in the area were yaodongs —dwellings carved out of loess hillsides—and many victims were killed when these structures collapsed. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake , which killed between 240,000 and 655,000 people,

675-402: A particular time. The seismicity at a particular location in the Earth is the average rate of seismic energy release per unit volume. In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes can occur naturally or be induced by human activities, such as mining , fracking , and nuclear tests . The initial point of rupture

750-730: A single rupture) are approximately 1,000 km (620 mi). Examples are the earthquakes in Alaska (1957) , Chile (1960) , and Sumatra (2004) , all in subduction zones. The longest earthquake ruptures on strike-slip faults, like the San Andreas Fault ( 1857 , 1906 ), the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey ( 1939 ), and the Denali Fault in Alaska ( 2002 ), are about half to one third as long as

825-515: Is a theory that earthquakes can recur in a regular pattern. Earthquake clustering has been observed, for example, in Parkfield, California where a long-term research study is being conducted around the Parkfield earthquake cluster. An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. Rapid changes of stress between rocks, and the stress from the original earthquake are

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900-413: Is associated with the stretching and thinning of the crust or the lithosphere . This type of tectonics is found at divergent plate boundaries, in continental rifts , during and after a period of continental collision caused by the lateral spreading of the thickened crust formed, at releasing bends in strike-slip faults , in back-arc basins , and on the continental end of passive margin sequences where

975-410: 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 average rate of seismic energy release. Significant historical earthquakes include

1050-520: Is converted into heat generated by friction. Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic potential energy and raise its temperature, though these changes are negligible compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from the Earth's deep interior. There are three main types of fault, all of which may cause an interplate earthquake : normal, reverse (thrust), and strike-slip. Normal and reverse faulting are examples of dip-slip, where

1125-400: Is divided into 754 Flinn–Engdahl regions (F-E regions), which are based on political and geographical boundaries as well as seismic activity. More active zones are divided into smaller F-E regions whereas less active zones belong to larger F-E regions. Standard reporting of earthquakes includes its magnitude , date and time of occurrence, geographic coordinates of its epicenter , depth of

1200-421: Is formed in the process of sea-floor spreading ; transform , where plates slide past each other, and convergent , where plates converge and lithosphere is "consumed" by the process of subduction . Convergent and transform boundaries are responsible for most of the world's major ( M w > 7) earthquakes . Convergent and divergent boundaries are also the site of most of the world's volcanoes , such as around

1275-532: Is probably a statistical fluctuation rather than a systematic trend. More detailed statistics on the size and frequency of earthquakes is available from the United States Geological Survey. A recent increase in the number of major earthquakes has been noted, which could be explained by a cyclical pattern of periods of intense tectonic activity, interspersed with longer periods of low intensity. However, accurate recordings of earthquakes only began in

1350-423: Is proportional to the area of the fault that ruptures and the stress drop. Therefore, the longer the length and the wider the width of the faulted area, the larger the resulting magnitude. The most important parameter controlling the maximum earthquake magnitude on a fault, however, is not the maximum available length, but the available width because the latter varies by a factor of 20. Along converging plate margins,

1425-410: Is the tsunami earthquake , observed where the relatively low felt intensities, caused by the slow propagation speed of some great earthquakes, fail to alert the population of the neighboring coast, as in the 1896 Sanriku earthquake . During an earthquake, high temperatures can develop at the fault plane, increasing pore pressure and consequently vaporization of the groundwater already contained within

1500-401: Is the study of the motions and deformations of the Earth's crust ( geological and geomorphological processes) that are current or recent in geological time . The term may also refer to the motions and deformations themselves. The corresponding time frame is referred to as the neotectonic period . Accordingly, the preceding time is referred to as palaeotectonic period . Tectonophysics is

1575-501: The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in China, with over 830,000 fatalities, and the 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile, the largest ever recorded at 9.5 magnitude. Earthquakes result in various effects, such as ground shaking and soil liquefaction , leading to significant damage and loss of life. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause

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1650-400: The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens . Earthquake swarms can serve as markers for the location of the flowing magma throughout the volcanoes. These swarms can be recorded by seismometers and tiltmeters (a device that measures ground slope) and used as sensors to predict imminent or upcoming eruptions. A tectonic earthquake begins as an area of initial slip on the fault surface that forms

1725-587: The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake is simultaneously one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. Earthquakes that caused the greatest loss of life, while powerful, were deadly because of their proximity to either heavily populated areas or the ocean, where earthquakes often create tsunamis that can devastate communities thousands of kilometers away. Regions most at risk for great loss of life include those where earthquakes are relatively rare but powerful, and poor regions with lax, unenforced, or nonexistent seismic building codes. Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere on

1800-434: The Earth 's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves . Earthquakes can range in intensity , from those so weak they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air, damage critical infrastructure, and wreak destruction across entire cities. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over

1875-490: The Himalayan Mountains . With the rapid growth of mega-cities such as Mexico City, Tokyo, and Tehran in areas of high seismic risk , some seismologists are warning that a single earthquake may claim the lives of up to three million people. While most earthquakes are caused by the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates , human activity can also produce earthquakes. Activities both above ground and below may change

1950-426: The brittle-ductile transition zone and upwards by the ground surface. The mechanics of this process are poorly understood because it is difficult either to recreate such rapid movements in a laboratory or to record seismic waves close to a nucleation zone due to strong ground motion. In most cases, the rupture speed approaches, but does not exceed, the shear wave (S wave) velocity of the surrounding rock. There are

2025-534: The foreland to a collisional belt. In plate tectonics, the outermost part of the Earth known as the lithosphere (the crust and uppermost mantle ) act as a single mechanical layer. The lithosphere is divided into separate "plates" that move relative to each other on the underlying, relatively weak asthenosphere in a process ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from the Earth's interior. There are three main types of plate boundaries: divergent , where plates move apart from each other and new lithosphere

2100-413: The least principal stress. Strike-slip faulting is intermediate between the other two types described above. This difference in stress regime in the three faulting environments can contribute to differences in stress drop during faulting, which contributes to differences in the radiated energy, regardless of fault dimensions. For every unit increase in magnitude, there is a roughly thirty-fold increase in

2175-541: The 20th century and has been inferred for older anomalous clusters of large earthquakes in the Middle East. It is estimated that around 500,000 earthquakes occur each year, detectable with current instrumentation. About 100,000 of these can be felt. Minor earthquakes occur very frequently around the world in places like California and Alaska in the U.S., as well as in El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Indonesia,

2250-433: The 21st century. Seismic waves travel through the Earth's interior and can be recorded by seismometers at great distances. The surface-wave magnitude was developed in the 1950s as a means to measure remote earthquakes and to improve the accuracy for larger events. The moment magnitude scale not only measures the amplitude of the shock but also takes into account the seismic moment (total rupture area, average slip of

2325-506: The 7th December 2015 with no visible signs of deterioration. Shadau Lake is a small water body southwest of the Usoi Dam and west of Sarez Lake. The formation of Sarez Lake is described in the book by Middleton and Thomas: The 1911 Sarez earthquake , estimated at 6.5-7.0 on the Richter scale, occurred about midnight, 5–6 February 1911 ( old style ). Deaths were estimated at 302. The landslide

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2400-399: The Earth's core was located in 1913 by Beno Gutenberg . S waves and later arriving surface waves do most of the damage compared to P waves. P waves squeeze and expand the material in the same direction they are traveling, whereas S waves shake the ground up and down and back and forth. Earthquakes are not only categorized by their magnitude but also by the place where they occur. The world

2475-519: The Earth's outer shell interact with each other. Principles of tectonics also provide a framework for understanding the earthquake and volcanic belts that directly affect much of the global population. Tectonic studies are important as guides for economic geologists searching for fossil fuels and ore deposits of metallic and nonmetallic resources. An understanding of tectonic principles can help geomorphologists to explain erosion patterns and other Earth-surface features. Extensional tectonics

2550-481: The Earth. Also, the depth of the hypocenter can be computed roughly. P wave speed S waves speed As a consequence, the first waves of a distant earthquake arrive at an observatory via the Earth's mantle. On average, the kilometer distance to the earthquake is the number of seconds between the P- and S wave times 8. Slight deviations are caused by inhomogeneities of subsurface structure. By such analysis of seismograms,

2625-460: The Pacific Ring of Fire . Most of the deformation in the lithosphere is related to the interaction between plates at or near plate boundaries. The latest studies, based on the integration of available geological data, and satellite imagery and Gravimetric and magnetic anomaly datasets have shown that the crust of the Earth is dissected by thousands of different types of tectonic elements which define

2700-558: The Philippines, Iran, Pakistan, the Azores in Portugal, Turkey, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, India, Nepal, and Japan. Larger earthquakes occur less frequently, the relationship being exponential ; for example, roughly ten times as many earthquakes larger than magnitude 4 occur than earthquakes larger than magnitude 5. In the (low seismicity) United Kingdom, for example, it has been calculated that

2775-463: The average recurrences are: an earthquake of 3.7–4.6 every year, an earthquake of 4.7–5.5 every 10 years, and an earthquake of 5.6 or larger every 100 years. This is an example of the Gutenberg–Richter law . The number of seismic stations has increased from about 350 in 1931 to many thousands today. As a result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past, but this is because of

2850-404: The brittle crust. Thus, earthquakes with magnitudes much larger than 8 are not possible. In addition, there exists a hierarchy of stress levels in the three fault types. Thrust faults are generated by the highest, strike-slip by intermediate, and normal faults by the lowest stress levels. This can easily be understood by considering the direction of the greatest principal stress, the direction of

2925-555: The cause of other earthquakes in the past century. A Columbia University paper suggested that the 8.0 magnitude 2008 Sichuan earthquake was induced by loading from the Zipingpu Dam , though the link has not been conclusively proved. The instrumental scales used to describe the size of an earthquake began with the Richter scale in the 1930s. It is a relatively simple measurement of an event's amplitude, and its use has become minimal in

3000-419: The crust or the lithosphere. This type of tectonics is found along oceanic and continental transform faults which connect offset segments of mid-ocean ridges . Strike-slip tectonics also occurs at lateral offsets in extensional and thrust fault systems. In areas involved with plate collisions strike-slip deformation occurs in the over-riding plate in zones of oblique collision and accommodates deformation in

3075-514: The dam is so narrow, any flood would be very destructive. The result of a global risk analysis carried out by STUCKY for the World Bank was presented at the 2002 IAHR Symposium in St Petersburg and at the 2006 International Congress on Large Dams in Barcelona . Earthquake An earthquake  – also called a quake , tremor , or temblor  – is the shaking of

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3150-521: The dip angle of the rupture plane is very shallow, typically about 10 degrees. Thus, the width of the plane within the top brittle crust of the Earth can reach 50–100 km (31–62 mi) (such as in Japan, 2011 , or in Alaska, 1964 ), making the most powerful earthquakes possible. The majority of tectonic earthquakes originate in the Ring of Fire at depths not exceeding tens of kilometers. Earthquakes occurring at

3225-678: The displacement along the fault is in the direction of dip and where movement on them involves a vertical component. Many earthquakes are caused by movement on faults that have components of both dip-slip and strike-slip; this is known as oblique slip. The topmost, brittle part of the Earth's crust, and the cool slabs of the tectonic plates that are descending into the hot mantle, are the only parts of our planet that can store elastic energy and release it in fault ruptures. Rocks hotter than about 300 °C (572 °F) flow in response to stress; they do not rupture in earthquakes. The maximum observed lengths of ruptures and mapped faults (which may break in

3300-439: The distance from the earthquake and the underlying rock or soil makeup. The first scale for measuring earthquake magnitudes was developed by Charles Francis Richter in 1935. Subsequent scales ( seismic magnitude scales ) have retained a key feature, where each unit represents a ten-fold difference in the amplitude of the ground shaking and a 32-fold difference in energy. Subsequent scales are also adjusted to have approximately

3375-488: The early 1900s, so it is too early to categorically state that this is the case. Most of the world's earthquakes (90%, and 81% of the largest) take place in the 40,000-kilometre-long (25,000 mi), horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific seismic belt, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire , which for the most part bounds the Pacific plate . Massive earthquakes tend to occur along other plate boundaries too, such as along

3450-403: The earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane . The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increases the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities, which leads to a form of stick-slip behavior . Once

3525-426: The earthquakes strike a fault in clusters, each triggered by the shaking or stress redistribution of the previous earthquakes. Similar to aftershocks but on adjacent segments of fault, these storms occur over the course of years, with some of the later earthquakes as damaging as the early ones. Such a pattern was observed in the sequence of about a dozen earthquakes that struck the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey in

3600-498: The energy released. For instance, an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 releases approximately 32 times more energy than a 5.0 magnitude earthquake and a 7.0 magnitude earthquake releases 1,000 times more energy than a 5.0 magnitude earthquake. An 8.6-magnitude earthquake releases the same amount of energy as 10,000 atomic bombs of the size used in World War II . This is so because the energy released in an earthquake, and thus its magnitude,

3675-469: The epicenter, geographical region, distances to population centers, location uncertainty, several parameters that are included in USGS earthquake reports (number of stations reporting, number of observations, etc.), and a unique event ID. Tectonic Tectonics (from Latin tectonicus ; from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός ( tektonikós )  'pertaining to building ') are

3750-458: The fact that no single earthquake in the sequence is the main shock, so none has a notably higher magnitude than another. An example of an earthquake swarm is the 2004 activity at Yellowstone National Park . In August 2012, a swarm of earthquakes shook Southern California 's Imperial Valley , showing the most recorded activity in the area since the 1970s. Sometimes a series of earthquakes occur in what has been called an earthquake storm , where

3825-462: The fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and, therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault, releasing the stored energy . This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves , frictional heating of

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3900-411: The fault plane that holds it in place, and fluids can exert a lubricating effect. As thermal overpressurization may provide positive feedback between slip and strength fall at the fault plane, a common opinion is that it may enhance the faulting process instability. After the mainshock, the pressure gradient between the fault plane and the neighboring rock causes a fluid flow that increases pore pressure in

3975-418: The fault surface, and cracking of the rock, thus causing an earthquake. This process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory . It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or

4050-536: The fault, and rigidity of the rock). The Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale , the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale , and the Mercalli intensity scale are based on the observed effects and are related to the intensity of shaking. The shaking of the earth is a common phenomenon that has been experienced by humans from the earliest of times. Before the development of strong-motion accelerometers,

4125-417: The focus. Once the rupture has been initiated, it begins to propagate away from the focus, spreading out along the fault surface. Lateral propagation will continue until either the rupture reaches a barrier, such as the end of a fault segment, or a region on the fault where there is insufficient stress to allow continued rupture. For larger earthquakes, the depth extent of rupture will be constrained downwards by

4200-406: The force that "pushes" the rock mass during the faulting. In the case of normal faults, the rock mass is pushed down in a vertical direction, thus the pushing force ( greatest principal stress) equals the weight of the rock mass itself. In the case of thrusting, the rock mass "escapes" in the direction of the least principal stress, namely upward, lifting the rock mass, and thus, the overburden equals

4275-410: The intensity of a seismic event was estimated based on the observed effects. Magnitude and intensity are not directly related and calculated using different methods. The magnitude of an earthquake is a single value that describes the size of the earthquake at its source. Intensity is the measure of shaking at different locations around the earthquake. Intensity values vary from place to place, depending on

4350-471: The lengths along subducting plate margins, and those along normal faults are even shorter. Normal faults occur mainly in areas where the crust is being extended such as a divergent boundary . Earthquakes associated with normal faults are generally less than magnitude 7. Maximum magnitudes along many normal faults are even more limited because many of them are located along spreading centers, as in Iceland, where

4425-402: The main causes of these aftershocks, along with the crust around the ruptured fault plane as it adjusts to the effects of the mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region as the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude, however, they can still be powerful enough to cause even more damage to buildings that were already previously damaged from the mainshock. If an aftershock is larger than

4500-414: The mainshock, the aftershock is redesignated as the mainshock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock . Aftershocks are formed as the crust around the displaced fault plane adjusts to the effects of the mainshock. Earthquake swarms are sequences of earthquakes striking in a specific area within a short period. They are different from earthquakes followed by a series of aftershocks by

4575-404: The processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of planetary tectonics extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes include those of mountain-building , the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents known as cratons , and the ways in which the relatively rigid plates that constitute

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4650-518: The rock. In the coseismic phase, such an increase can significantly affect slip evolution and speed, in the post-seismic phase it can control the Aftershock sequence because, after the main event, pore pressure increase slowly propagates into the surrounding fracture network. From the point of view of the Mohr-Coulomb strength theory , an increase in fluid pressure reduces the normal stress acting on

4725-437: 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. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over a particular time. The seismicity at

4800-522: The same numeric value within the limits of the scale. Although the mass media commonly reports earthquake magnitudes as "Richter magnitude" or "Richter scale", standard practice by most seismological authorities is to express an earthquake's strength on the moment magnitude scale, which is based on the actual energy released by an earthquake, the static seismic moment. Every earthquake produces different types of seismic waves, which travel through rock with different velocities: Propagation velocity of

4875-464: The seismic waves through solid rock ranges from approx. 3 km/s (1.9 mi/s) up to 13 km/s (8.1 mi/s), depending on the density and elasticity of the medium. In the Earth's interior, the shock- or P waves travel much faster than the S waves (approx. relation 1.7:1). The differences in travel time from the epicenter to the observatory are a measure of the distance and can be used to image both sources of earthquakes and structures within

4950-422: The stresses and strains on the crust, including building reservoirs, extracting resources such as coal or oil, and injecting fluids underground for waste disposal or fracking . Most of these earthquakes have small magnitudes. The 5.7 magnitude 2011 Oklahoma earthquake is thought to have been caused by disposing wastewater from oil production into injection wells , and studies point to the state's oil industry as

5025-576: The study of the physical processes associated with deformation of the crust and mantle from the scale of individual mineral grains up to that of tectonic plates. Seismotectonics is the study of the relationship between earthquakes, active tectonics, and individual faults in a region. It seeks to understand which faults are responsible for seismic activity in an area by analysing a combination of regional tectonics, recent instrumentally recorded events, accounts of historical earthquakes, and geomorphological evidence. This information can then be used to quantify

5100-403: The subdivision into numerous smaller microplates which have amalgamated into the larger Plates. Salt tectonics is concerned with the structural geometries and deformation processes associated with the presence of significant thicknesses of rock salt within a sequence of rocks. This is due both to the low density of salt, which does not increase with burial, and its low strength. Neotectonics

5175-490: The surrounding fracture networks; such an increase may trigger new faulting processes by reactivating adjacent faults, giving rise to aftershocks. Analogously, artificial pore pressure increase, by fluid injection in Earth's crust, may induce seismicity . Tides may trigger some seismicity . Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location and time. Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors that cause little to no damage, but there

5250-443: The thickness of the brittle layer is only about six kilometres (3.7 mi). Reverse faults occur in areas where the crust is being shortened such as at a convergent boundary . Reverse faults, particularly those along convergent boundaries, are associated with the most powerful earthquakes (called megathrust earthquakes ) including almost all of those of magnitude 8 or more. Megathrust earthquakes are responsible for about 90% of

5325-461: The total seismic moment released worldwide. Strike-slip faults are steep structures where the two sides of the fault slip horizontally past each other; transform boundaries are a particular type of strike-slip fault. Strike-slip faults, particularly continental transforms , can produce major earthquakes up to about magnitude 8. Strike-slip faults tend to be oriented near vertically, resulting in an approximate width of 10 km (6.2 mi) within

5400-505: The universality of such events beyond Earth. An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves . Earthquakes may also be referred to as quakes , tremors , or temblors . The word tremor is also used for non-earthquake seismic rumbling . In its most general sense, an earthquake is any seismic event—whether natural or caused by humans—that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by

5475-436: The vast improvement in instrumentation, rather than an increase in the number of earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that, since 1900, there have been an average of 18 major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0–7.9) and one great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per year, and that this average has been relatively stable. In recent years, the number of major earthquakes per year has decreased, though this

5550-490: Was 2.2 billion cubic meters and formed the Usoi Dam which is approx. 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long, 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) wide and up to 567 metres (1,860 ft) high, the tallest natural dam in the world. Usoi was a village buried under the landslide. The area was so isolated and the destruction of mountain tracks so complete that it took six weeks before word reached the Russian posts at Murghab and Khorog . In 1968

5625-626: Was the deadliest of the 20th century. The 1960 Chilean earthquake is the largest earthquake that has been measured on a seismograph, reaching 9.5 magnitude on 22 May 1960. Its epicenter was near Cañete, Chile. The energy released was approximately twice that of the next most powerful earthquake, the Good Friday earthquake (27 March 1964), which was centered in Prince William Sound , Alaska. The ten largest recorded earthquakes have all been megathrust earthquakes ; however, of these ten, only

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