Causes of Earthquakes

 Stresses – forces that bends, twists or fractures rocks

 Strain – a change in shape, size or volume of rocks under stress

Stress and strain

 Stress – force applied over an area
1. Uniform stress – forces acting equally from all directions (eg. Lithostatic pressure
also called confined stress or hydrostatic stress)
2. Differential stress – stress is not equal from all directions
a. Tensional stress (extensional) – stretch rock
b. Compressional stress – squeezes rock
c. Shear stress – result in slippage and translation

 When stress is applied to rock, rock passes through 3 stages of deformation

1. Elastic Deformation – strain is reversible
2. Ductile Deformation – strain is irreversible
3. Fracture – irreversible strain (failure)

 Divide 2 classes depending on stress

1. Brittle materials – elastic (small to large region), ductile (only small region)
2. Ductile materials – elastic (small region), ductile (large region)

 Material behavior depends on several factors

1. Temperature
o at high T (bands can stretch and move, more ductile)
o at low T (brittle, failure)
2. Confining Pressure
o at high P (less likely to fracture)
o at low P (brittle and tend to fracture)
3. Strain rate – rate at which deformation occurs
o At high strain rates (tend to fracture)
o At low strain rates (ductile is favoured)
4. Composition
o Very brittle – Qtz, olivine, feldspar
o More ductile – clay minerals, micas, calcite

 Presence or absence of water also determined the deformation

 Rocks near the surface of earth – brittle, unless deformed slowly

Faults
 Most natural earthquakes are caused by slippage along fault
 Occur when brittle rocks fracture and there is displacement of one side of fracture to
other side
 Divided into different types depending on direction of relative displacement or slip on
fault
 Dip angle – the angle that fault make to the ground surface
 Fault plane is vertical at 90°
 Dip slip faults – have inclined fault plane and along relative displacement or offset
has occurred along dip direction
 Hanging wall – block above the fault plane
 Foot wall – block below the fault plane
 Normal Fault (hanging wall moved down) – caused by horizontal extensional stress
 Reverse Fault (hanging wall moved up) – caused by horizontal compressional stress
 Thrust fault (low angle reverse fault) – dip angle < 45°
 Strike-slip fault (caused by shear stress in crust) – displacement on fault has taken
place along horizontal direction
 Two types of strike-slip fault depending on displacement
1. left-lateral strike-slip fault (sinistral fault) – the block on other side has moved to
left
2. right-lateral strike-slip fault (Dextral fault) – the block on the other side moved to
right
 Oblique slip fault – displacement has both a vertical component & horizontal
component
 Blind fault (no breakage on the surface of the crust) – rocks above fault behaves in
ductile fashion and folds over the tip of fault

 Active faults
o Show recent displacement and has potential to produce earthquakes
o Ancient faults can be found anywhere, deformation has taken place in past
o Faults have broken surface of the earth which can be delineated on maps (fault
lines or fault zones)
o Recent ruptures of dip slip faults at surface show a cliff (fault scarp)
o Strike slip fault results in features like linear valleys, offset surface (roads,
stream, channels, etc.) or elongated ridges

 How faults develop

o Elastic rebound theory suggests if slippage along a fault is hindered (elastic
strain energy builds up) on either side of fault, the energy released causes
earthquakes
o Bends disappeared after an earthquake suggest energy stored in bending the
rocks was released during the earthquake

 Friction
o Between blocks keep the fault from moving again until enough strain has
accumulated along fault zone to overcome the friction
o Fault forms and becomes a zone of weakness in crust
o Stick Slip (faults move in spurts)
o Larger displacements generate larger earthquakes
o Smaller displacements generate smaller earthquakes

 Fault creep
o Faults or fault parts move continuously without generating earthquakes
o Little fraction of fault and tectonic stresses are large enough to move blocks in
opposite directions