NOTES: Earthquake and Faults

 Earthquake is weak to violent shaking of the ground produced by the sudden movement of rock materials below the earth’s
surface. It is caused by a sudden slip on a fault.
 Fault is a thin zone of crushed rock separating blocks of the earth's crust.
 3 Types of fault: normal, reverse, and strike-slip
 Reverse fault is a type of vertical fault movement in which an upper block of rock slides over a lower block which is
separated from it by the fault. Himalaya Mountains is an example of reverse fault where the Indian Plate is pushing into the
Eurasian Plate.
 Normal fault is a vertical fault movement in which an upper block of rock, separated by a fault from a lower block, moves
downward relative to the lower block. Example: Great Rift Valley of Africa
 Strike-slip fault is a fault along which motion is mostly in a horizontal direction. Example: San Andreas Fault in California
 Fault line is a line on a rock surface or the ground that traces a geological fault.
 Slip - the amount of ground displacement in an earthquake.
 Focus - the point where first movement occurred which triggered the earthquake. Also, called the hypocenter of an
earthquake.
 Epicenter - the spot directly above the focus on the surface of the Earth.
 Fault plane - the flat surface between the two pieces of earth’s crust or land separated by fault.
 Magnitude – is a quantitative measure of the earthquake’s strength in terms of energy released. Measure of its size.
 Intensity – is describing how powerful an earthquake is by noting its effects on people, structures, and the surroundings.