EARTHQUAKES

Stress causes earthquakes. Stress is a force that changes or breaks rocks. When stress causes the rocks to break, the rocks release energy and causes earthquakes. There are three different types of stress. The three types of stress are shearing, tension, and compression. Shearing pushes rocks into two opposite directions. Tension pulls on the crust, streaching rocks. Compression sqeezes rocks until it folds or break. Tension is a normal fault. A normal fault is where one block of rock lies below the other one. The top is a hanging wall and the bottem is a foot wall. The foot wall is pushing up and the hanging wall is going down. Compression is a reverse fault. A reverse fault is the opposite of the normal fault and the hanging wall pushes up and the foot wall goes down.

click on this picture to go to our sponsor!

What happens to the faults is friction. There is low friction, moderate friction, and high friction. Low friction is when rocks slide past eachother without slipping. Moderate friction is when the sides of the faults slide roughly past eachother then the sides of the fault jerk free and an earthquake occures. High friction is when there is no movment and the stress increases until it can move and then a bigger earthquake occurs.

page by: Ricki D.

Home!

Pangeae!

Volcanoes!

Games!