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Moderately damaging earthquakes strike between New York and Wilmington, Delaware, about twice a century, the USGS said, and smaller earthquakes are felt in the region roughly every two to three years.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) explains that earthquakes like these, which so often have devastating consequences, are the result of “sudden movement along faults within the earth”.
The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthquakes are the planet's most powerful, with moment magnitudes (M w) that can exceed 9.0. [1] [2] Since 1900, all earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater have been megathrust earthquakes. [3]
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 is called the hypocenter or focus, while the ground level directly above it is the epicenter.
The magnitude of an earthquake isn't enough to determine how much death and destruction it will cause. Location, time of day, building codes and other factors make a big difference.
In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousands of instrumentally detectable aftershocks, which steadily decrease in magnitude and frequency according ...
An active fault is a fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Geologists commonly consider faults to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,000 years. [1] Active faulting is considered to be a geologic hazard – one related to earthquakes as
Movement of tectonic plates against each other sends seismic waves rippling across earth’s surface