Earthquakes :: essays research papers

Earthquakes atomic number 18 one of the most damaging natural disasters recognise to man. They have been known to destroy entire cities in their total eon of 2 to 3 minutes. Most people do not know that earthquakes are common through out the entire world they are just more powerful in places such as atomic number 20 and small countries in South America. The definition of earthquake is a serial of vibrations induced in the earths crust by the abrupt rupture and tantalize of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating according to Infoseek.com.. As a consequence of continental plate movement, the Earths surface near active cracks deforms before, during and aft(prenominal) earthquakes. Similarly, the ground surface near active volcanoes also deforms as a consequence of eruptions and volcano evolution. Crystal deformation can be observed as congenator movement of points on the Earths surface, ground tilt, ground strain, and injury slip (creep). There are five primary regions in atomic number 20 where continuing crustal deformation and associated seismicity indicate the most serious earthquake or volcanic hazard. Monitoring in these regions allows researchers to understand the source and characteristics of this hazard so they can attempt to minimize its effects. A fault is a scissure or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults may ordinate in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers. Most faults produce iterate displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other. The fault surface can be swimming or vertical or some arbitrary angle in between. Earth scientists use the angle of the fault with respect to the surface (known as the dip) and the direction of slip along the fault to classify faults.