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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 the main causes of these aftershocks, [34] along with the crust around the ruptured fault plane as it adjusts to the effects of the mainshock. [31]
Earthquakes occur when two plates suddenly slip past each other, setting off seismic waves that cause the planet's surface to shake, according to the USGS. What is an earthquake, scientifically ...
An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes cause tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and destruction of property. An earthquake is ...
When an earthquake occurs, seismographs near the epicenter are able to record both P and S waves, but those at a greater distance no longer detect the high frequencies of the first S wave. Since shear waves cannot pass through liquids, this phenomenon was original evidence for the now well-established observation that the Earth has a liquid ...
The magnitude of an earthquake depends in part on the length of the geological fault on which the quake occurs. Longer faults result in stronger earthquakes. There are no known faults capable of ...
An earthquake occurs because of slippage between the earth's tectonic plates, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The edges of the plates, or plate boundaries, are made up of many faults, and ...
Bigger earthquakes have more and larger aftershocks and the sequences can last for years or even longer especially when a large event occurs in a seismically quiet area; see, for example, the New Madrid seismic zone, where events still follow Omori's law from the main shocks of 1811–1812. An aftershock sequence is deemed to have ended when ...
California has hundreds of active faults.