CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKE AND FAULTING
(Earthquake Eng’g. Group 1)
EART BASICS
Earth is made up of the following:
a solid inner core
a molten outer core
the thick and mostly solid mantle, which
occupies approximately 84 percent of the earth's
total volume
the comparatively thin crust varies between 5 to
50 km in thickness.
Earth's outer skin is not a continuous surface. Instead, it
is composed of massive segments called tectonic plates.
Earthquakes occur along the boundaries between
tectonic plates or at the site of cracks within the plates,
which are called faults.
PLATE TECTONICS
The Earth’s outermost layer is fragmented into about 15 major slabs called tectonic plates. These slabs
form the lithosphere, which is comprised of the crust (continental and oceanic) and the upper part of the
mantle. Tectonic plates move very slowly relative to each other, typically a few centimeters per year, but
this still causes a huge amount of deformation at the plate boundaries, which in turn results in
earthquakes.
TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARY
Boundaries between tectonic plates are made up of a system of faults. Each type of boundary is
associated with one of three basic types of faults.
1. Divergent Plate Boundary (Constructive Plate Boundary) -
Plates can move apart at a boundary. It is also referred to as
a constructive plate boundary, as new material is being
produced at the boundary surface.
2. Convergent Plate Boundary (Destructive Plate Boundary) -
Continental collisions result in the creation of mountains
and fold belts as the rocks are forced upwards. Plates can
move towards each other at a boundary.
3. Transformed Fault Boundary - Plates can move past each
other in the same plane at a boundary. This type of
boundary is dominated by strike-slip faulting.
What is Fault?
Fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock, allowing relative movement8. Explain
how faults are critical in seismic activity, as they are the sources of earthquakes. This section can
highlight that movements along faults can be rapid, resulting in earthquakes, or slow, leading to a
phenomenon known as creep.
WHAT CAUSES AN EARTHQUAKE?
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.
The tectonic plates that make up the earth's crust are moving constantly. As the edges of these plates
slide against each other in fault zones, friction can slow them down, leading to the buildup of pressure
over long periods. When the force of movement finally overcomes the friction, sections of the crust
suddenly break or become displaced, releasing pent-up pressure in the form of seismic waves. This is a
naturally occurring earthquake, sometimes referred to as a tectonic earthquake.
THREE TYPES OF FAULTS
Certain types of faults are characteristic of the different plate boundaries, although often more than one
type of fault occurs there. This can help us understand the relative movement of the plates and the type
of deformation.
1. Normal Faults – Occur in regions experiencing extensional forces where the hanging wall moves
down relative to the footwall.
2. Reverse (Thrust) Faults – Form under compressional forces where the hanging wall moves up
relative to the footwall.
3. Strike-Slip Faults – Characterized by horizontal motion along the fault plane; movement can be
either right-lateral or left-lateral.
MECHANICS OF FAULTING
ELASTIC REBOUND THEORY – This theory explains how stress accumulates along a fault until it is
released in an earthquake.
Elastic rebound theory was originally proposed after the great San Francisco earthquake in 1906 by
the geologist Henry Fielding Reid, to explain the deformation caused by earthquakes. Before an
earthquake, the buildup of stress in the rocks on either side of a fault results in gradual deformation.
Eventually, this deformation exceeds the frictional force holding the rocks together and a sudden
slip occurs along the fault. This releases the accumulated stress and the rocks on either side of the
fault return to their original shape (elastic rebound) but are offset on either side of the fault.
Over time stresses in the Earth build up (often caused by the slow movements of tectonic plates). At
some point, the stresses become so great that the Earth breaks. An earthquake rupture occurs and
relieves some of the stresses (but generally not all).
HUMAN-INDUCED AND NATURAL EARTHQUAKE
Human-induced Earthquakes – also known as induced seismicity, are seismic events that occur as a
direct result of human activities. These activities alter the stress conditions in the Earth's crust, which
can lead to the rupture of preexisting faults. Common activities responsible for inducing seismicity
include the injection and extraction of fluids in processes like oil and gas production, geothermal energy
extraction, mining activities, and the disposal of wastewater into deep wells.
Natural Earthquakes – They occur due to geological processes such as the movement of tectonic plates
beneath the Earth's surface. The primary cause of these seismic events is the buildup of stress along
geological faults resulting from tectonic forces acting on the Earth's lithosphere. When this stress
exceeds the frictional resistance, a sudden release of energy occurs, causing the ground to shake.
REFERENCES:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/earth-hazards/earthquakes/what-causes-earthquakes/
#:~:text=Before%20an%20earthquake%2C%20the%20buildup%20of%20stress%20in%20the%20rocks
%20on%20either%20side%20of%20a%20fault%20results%20in%20gradual%20deformation.
%20Eventually%2C%20this%20deformation%20exceeds%20the%20frictional%20force%20holding
%20the%20rocks%20together%20and%20sudden%20slip%20occurs%20along%20the,the%20fault.
https://www.preventionweb.net/news/rocking-our-world-understanding-human-induced-
earthquakes#:~:text=However%2C%20what%20may%20be%20less%20well%2Dknown%20is%20that
%20humans%20can%20also%20induce%20earthquakes.%20Industrial%20activities%20such%20as
%20geothermal%20energy%20production%2C%20fracking%20for%20oil,of%20earthquakes.
https://climate.axa/when-humans-create-earthquakes/#:~:text=To%20understand%20what
%20happened%20in%20Oklahoma%2C%20it%E2%80%99s%20important%20to%20go%20back%20to
%20the%20causes%20of%20earthquakes.%20They%20are%20mostly%20generated%20by%20the
%20rupture%20of%20rocks%20along%20tectonic%20plates%20boundaries%2C%20where%20plate
%20movement%20causes%20stress%20accumulation.%20But%20the%20central%20USA%20is
%20not,unexpected%20evolution%3F
