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An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they can get stuck at their edges due to friction.When the stress on the edge of a tectonic plate overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the Earth's crust and cause the shaking that is felt.
With 1,620 small events in late January 2010, this swarm is the second-largest ever recorded in the Yellowstone Caldera. Interestingly, most of these swarms have "rapid-fire" characteristics: they seemingly appear out of nowhere and can churn out tens or hundreds of small to moderate quakes within a very short time frame.
Worldwide, there are on average about 16 major earthquakes in any given year, 15 in the magnitude 7.0 range and one 8.0 or greater, according to records going back to 1900.
Both surface deformation and faulting and shaking-related geological effects (e.g., soil liquefaction, landslides) not only leave permanent imprints in the environment, but also dramatically affect human structures. Moreover, underwater fault ruptures and seismically triggered landslides can generate tsunami waves.
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.
Earthquakes — particularly strong ones — are much more likely in places like California, which sit along major plate boundaries. Still, small earthquakes are fairly common in Georgia, experts ...
Thus, earthquakes represent at least a moderate hazard to East Coast cities. Earthquakes in the greater New York City area affect most of New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the United States, as well as New York City. It is difficult to discern the extent to which the Ramapo fault itself (or any other specific mapped fault in the ...
“It is also possible that earthquakes can increase the stress at the continuation of the faults or nearby faults, which may trigger other earthquakes.” Does climate change affect seismic activity?