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What Is A Fault

A fault is a crack in the Earth's crust caused by the movement of rock pieces against each other. Faults can range in size from millimeters to thousands of kilometers and cause earthquakes when the rock pieces suddenly move and release energy. While many faults exist, only active faults currently produce earthquakes, with inactive faults being those that no longer generate seismic activity.

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71 views

What Is A Fault

A fault is a crack in the Earth's crust caused by the movement of rock pieces against each other. Faults can range in size from millimeters to thousands of kilometers and cause earthquakes when the rock pieces suddenly move and release energy. While many faults exist, only active faults currently produce earthquakes, with inactive faults being those that no longer generate seismic activity.

Uploaded by

Sarah Gutierrez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is a Fault?

A fault is a crack in the Earth's lithosphere that occurs between two pieces of rock. Rock pieces are able to move at a fault, meaning earthquakes can occur if the movement pushes those rock
pieces into or past one another. Faults can range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers and are found all over the world. However, many faults are inactive, meaning they
do not have earthquakes that occur. Active faults are faults where earthquakes do occur. The term fault came from the Old French term falte, which means opening or gap.

What is a Fault?
A fault is a crack in the Earth's lithosphere that occurs between two pieces of rock. Rock pieces are able to move at a fault, meaning earthquakes can occur if the movement pushes those rock
pieces into or past one another. Faults can range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers and are found all over the world. However, many faults are inactive, meaning they
do not have earthquakes that occur. Active faults are faults where earthquakes do occur. The term fault came from the Old French term falte, which means opening or gap.
Earthquake
The shaking or trembling caused by the sudden release of energy.

What is a Fault?
A fault is a crack in the Earth's lithosphere that occurs between two
pieces of rock. Rock pieces are able to move at a fault, meaning
earthquakes can occur if the movement pushes those rock pieces into or
past one another. Faults can range in length from a few millimeters to
thousands of kilometers and are found all over the world. However, many
faults are inactive, meaning they do not have earthquakes that occur.
Active faults are faults where earthquakes do occur. The term fault came
from the Old French term falte, which means opening or gap.
Inactive fault or Dead fault (e.g. can not give an earthquake today, but they did so in the past)
Active fault (e.g. can generate earthquakes today and represent seismic sources).
Faults also die
How do Faults Produce Quakes
Faults produce earthquakes by having a sudden release of stress that causes seismic waves to occur, hence making the ground/rocks shake.

ENERGY from inside the Earth make the ground move.


Every time a FAULT slips or moves, the Earth Quakes
FOCUS AND EPICENTER

FOCUS
Is the place where the first break happens, where the fault starts to slip,
where first movement takes place. It is the starting point of the earth quake.
EPICENTER
Is the spot directly above the focus on the surface of the Earth.
SEISMIC WAVES
As an earthquake occurs, seismic waves move out in all directions from the
focus
The energy released during an earthquake is carried by vibrations called
SEISMIC WAVES.
As the rocks break and move, potential energy is transformed into kinetic in
the form of seismic waves.
c
It shows also that faults die. This is very important because there are numerous faults in the crust, however the majority of them are inactive
(e.g. can not give an earthquake today, but they did so in the past). So for earthquake geologists their first major goal is to identify which of the
faults they map are active (e.g. can generate earthquakes today and represent seismic sources).

Faults also die.

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