Eathquakes
Earthquakes are happening almost everyday all over the world. Most of the time earthquakes are not strong enough to be felt by people, but the shaking caused by an earthquake is recorded by a seismogram. These are located all over the world at different points. Only occasionally will larger magnitude earthquake strike and cause damage to the region. Around the world there are many faults, depending where these faults are plays a major factor in determining where an earthquake will happen. It is these faults that are the reason for earthquakes. The type of fault will also determine how often an earthquake will happen.A mid-ocean ridge occurs under the sea at a divergent boundary. This is where two plates are been pulled apart because of tension. This then allows new oceanic crust to be made in the divergent boundary, as magma rises and eventually sets on the sea floor. If the plates on either side of the divergent boundary continue to spread then the ocean slowly becomes larger in width, a process called seafloor spreading. Mid-ocean ridges are characterized by a crack like valley at the divergent boundary. This crack like valley is caused by the tension pulling the plates apart, causing normal faulting to occur numerous ti
The strength of these inter-plate earthquakes is relatively small, compared to boundary earthquakes. The frequency is also very small, the last major inter plate earthquake was in Latur-India in 1993. However they can catch regions totally unexpected because they can affect areas with no previous earthquake history. Also the energy of the earthquake is spread out further without losing as much. Due to the older hard rocks that transmit energy better, than the deformed broken younger rocks. This can cause more damage to a larger region. The distributions of these earthquakes that do occur happen at shallow depths. This is because the origin is in the crust, which has been thinned because of tension. what caused the earthquake to happen in the first place. We understand today how earthquakes are caused, and we can record where they happen every day of the year. This has helped us to learn and understand about earthquakes in much detail. We now only miss one important factor that we all would like to know, when and where the next one will be. In truth it must be said that today we are still not close to predicting earthquakes even with all the technology that is available. The creation of these islands around the world has happened in other places. Frequent large earthquakes do not happen along the Hawaiian chain, it is an essentially an aseismic ridge. Therefore the frequency of earthquakes caused in ocean basins by hot spots is very low.
Some topics in this essay:
Subduction Zones,
,
Indian Ocean,
frequency earthquakes,
divergent boundary,
mid-ocean ridges,
divergent boundaries,
earthquakes divergent boundaries,
earthquake happen,
subduction zones,
hot spot,
mid-ocean ridge,
normal faults,
earthquakes happen,
earthquakes subduction zones,
focus earthquakes occur,
happen shallow depths,
cause earthquakes divergent,
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Approximate Word count = 1591
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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