What kind earthquakes

The resulting energy released from this fracture is a combination of cracking rock, frictional heating, and radiated seismic waves caused by the elastic strain. Oddly enough, this process known as elastic rebound theory consists almost entirely of friction-based heat and the actual fracturing. The seismic energy we equate to an earthquake is actually less than 10 percent of this total force. The place where tectonic plates meet give access to the molten mantle. As a result, these fissures are a major source of volcanic activity.

The Ring of Fire in the Pacific is a prime example of this phenomenon. Volcanic earthquakes are a form of tectonic earthquake where volcanic activity coincides with tectonic forces. There are actually two forms of volcanic earthquake, although only one can be noticed without untra-sensitive equipment. There was a major quake on this Seattle fault about 1, years ago.

Because shallow fault earthquakes are so near the surface, even small ones cause a lot of damage from shaking. Subduction zone earthquakes The largest earthquakes ever recorded are subduction zone earthquakes. They can last several minutes. Another type, volcanic earthquakes, occur in conjunction with volcanic activity. Collapse earthquakes are small earthquakes in underground caverns and mines, and explosion earthquakes result from the explosion of nuclear and chemical devices.

We can measure motion from large tectonic earthquakes using GPS because rocks on either side of a fault are offset during this type of earthquake. This is a naturally occurring earthquake, sometimes referred to as a tectonic earthquake. While tectonic earthquakes can occur at any location around the world, the majority of large earthquakes—about 80 percent—occur at the circum-Pacific seismic belt found along the rim of the Pacific Ocean.

Two other regions regularly exhibiting earthquakes include the Alpide belt, extending along the southern margin of Eurasia through the Himalayan Mountains, Sumatra, and Java; and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge running along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. It involves the injection of large volumes of water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into a bedrock formation to create new fractures in the rock or increase the size, extent, and connectivity of existing fractures, leading to more permeability.

On rare occasions, fracking can lead directly to earthquakes. More frequently, earthquakes are induced by the disposal of waste water associated with the oil production into underground wells. Seismic events associated with fracking and waste fluid disposal tend to be low-level and dependent on conditions such as the injection rate and total volume injected, the proximity of faults near the injection site and the pathways permitting pressure to travel from the injection site to the fault, and the presence of stresses on faults that are large enough to produce earthquakes.