What are the causes of an earthquake?

Question

What are the causes of an earthquake?

Answer 1

tectonic plates moving under the earths crust

Answer 2

plate tectonics

if i spelled that right

Answer 3

Causes of Earthquakes

Most earthquakes are causally related to compressional or tensional stresses built up at the margins of the huge moving lithospheric plates that make up the earth's surface (see lithosphere). The immediate cause of most shallow earthquakes is the sudden release of stress along a fault, or fracture in the earth's crust, resulting in movement of the opposing blocks of rock past one another. These movements cause vibrations to pass through and around the earth in wave form, just as ripples are generated when a pebble is dropped into water. Volcanic eruptions, rockfalls, landslides, and explosions can also cause a quake, but most of these are of only local extent. Shock waves from a powerful earthquake can trigger smaller earthquakes in a distant location hundreds of miles away if the geologic conditions are favorable.

Answer 4

the  plates consist of an outer layer of the Earth, the lithosphere, which is cool enough to behave as a more or less rigid shell. Occasionally the hot asthenosphere of the Earth finds a weak place in the lithosphere to rise buoyantly as a plume, or hotspot. The satellite image below shows the volcanic islands of the Galapagos hotspot.lithosphere has the strength and the brittle behavior to fracture in an earthquake.

Answer 5

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph. The moment magnitude of an earthquake is conventionally reported, or the related and mostly obsolete Richter magnitude, with magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly imperceptible and magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale.

Answer 6

I think it can be a few different things but i know that when tectonic plates move and/or rub together it causes an earthquake to occur.

Answer 7

Convergent boundaries - 2 plates push into each other.

AND

Transform boundaries - 2 plates sliding against each other.

P.S. Plates = tectonic plates.

Answer 8

There are several layers in the earth. See my picture. The top layer called crust is about 30 k/m in continent and as low as 5 k/m in deep ocean. Next is lithosphere made out of solid rocks. The thickness will be about 100 k/m. The next layer is asthenosphere .It is semi solid molten metal. Due to the convection heat the broken lithosphere called tectonic plates moves at the rate of about 50 to 100 mm per year and causing creation of pressure at tectonic plate boundaries. At one stage due to unbearable pressure the plates slips and causes creation of earthquakes to release the stress.

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