Question: If the earth quakes wont be occur, does stored energy of earth damage itself?

Asked by dogan7b to Rhian, Andi on 10 Mar 2015.

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  1. Photo: Andreas RudersdorfAndreas Rudersdorf
    answered on 10 Mar 2015:

    Hi there!

    Earthquake are an important mechanism to release stored energy in the subsurface. If no earthquake happens it could be that energy is steadily released in a process that is called fault creep. That means a fault in subsurface does not simply crack and move and produce an earthquake, but would rather slide very, very slowly – like parts of the famous San Andreas Fault do.

    When a fault cannot move and does not produce an earthquake, we scientists call this fault “locked”. When a fault is really locked and stresses become bigger, it would also be a possibility that another fault (nearby) would move and there produce an earthquake.

    All the best,
    Andi

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  2. Photo: Rhian MearaRhian Meara
    answered on 19 Mar 2015:

    good question and a good answer from Andi!

    i think that when faults become stuck, they will try to push and push until they can break through. If / when they do break through, this can cause a really big earthquake! but Andi is right, if there really is no way for the fault to move, then the energy might move to another place that is weaker to allow the crust to break so really the fault would begin again in a different place 🙂

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