• Question: what cause an earthquake?

    Asked by oliwiabieber to Davie on 25 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by karolinaparker, heskeyfenwa.
    • Photo: Davie Galloway

      Davie Galloway answered on 25 Jun 2012:

      Hi,

      An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth’s crust resulting in waves of shaking that radiate outwards from the earthquake source. When stresses in the crust exceed the strength of the rock, it breaks along lines of weakness, either a pre-existing or new fault plane. The point where an earthquake starts is termed the focus or hypocentre and may be many kilometres deep within the earth. The point at the surface directly above the focus is called the earthquake epicentre.

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