Why do aftershocks occur in the same place

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Christian Science Perspective. It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I want to know if large earthquakes can happen twice in the same region?

The reason is that the recent earthquake in Nepal was followed by many after shocks of considerable magnitude. I wanted to know if there are chances of earthquake of this magnitude in the same region again. Can we expect another earthquake in the same region, lets say in a month or few months?

Aftershocks after a major earthquake can occur for a period of weeks after the initial major earthquake, but the magnitude of the aftershocks is always less than that of the initial major quake. Information on earthquakes before is patchy. Nothing was mentioned about a second or third major earthquake happening shortly after a major earthquake; even for the devastating earthquake.

Due to the different tectonic settings and causes for earthquakes in different parts of the world it is best not to look at the history of one part of the world and assume the same will occur elsewhere. The expectancy of earthquakes and their patterns in the Himalayas should not be compared with earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand, western USA, Turkey or elsewhere. I believe you have seen rupture maps for large earthquakes, such as the Japan earthquake.

In that earthquake, a foreshock of 7. This could be interpreted like this using the asperity model : the foreshock hit at the "slopes" of the asperity but failed to "climb" up immediately; aftershocks were slowly migrating towards the "top" of the asperity, then the main shock happened. Furthermore, once the whole fault was activated, slip at the shallowest parts went beyond charts 40, 50, even 80m of slip were reported locally.

The main deep asperity had the fewest aftershocks it slipped completely and without restraints , but there were enough of them in the shallowest parts of the fault. But what do these terms mean?

What do they mean for what we felt and what we will feel the next time? Do we really understand what seismologists are saying? This section describes how earthquakes happen and how they are measured. It also explains why the same earthquake can shake one area differently than another area. It finishes with information we expect to learn after future earthquakes. An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault, much like what happens when you snap your fingers. Before the snap, you push your fingers together and sideways.

Because you are pushing them together, friction keeps them from moving to the side. When you push sideways hard enough to overcome this friction, your fingers move suddenly, releasing energy in the form of sound waves that set the air vibrating and travel from your hand to your ear, where you hear the snap. The same process goes on in an earthquake.

Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the sides of the fault together. The friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together so they do not slip immediately when pushed sideways. Eventually enough stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the rock to cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake. Just as you snap your fingers with the whole area of your fingertip and thumb, earthquakes happen over an area of the fault, called the rupture surface.

However, unlike your fingers, the whole fault plane does not slip at once. Do earthquakes occur in Antarctica? Earthquakes do occur in Antarctica, but not very often. There have been some big earthquakes--including one magnitude 8 --in the Balleny Islands between Antarctica and New Zealand. The boundary between the Scotia Plate and the Antarctic Plate just grazes the north tip of the Antarctic Peninsula look "northwest" from the Pole toward South Where can I find earthquake educational materials?

Start with our Earthquake Hazards Education site. Can we cause earthquakes? Is there any way to prevent earthquakes? Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented at many locations in the United States and in many other countries around the world. Earthquakes can be induced by a wide range of causes including impoundment of reservoirs, surface and underground mining, withdrawal of fluids and gas from the subsurface, and injection of fluids into What is surface faulting or surface rupture in an earthquake?

Surface rupture occurs when movement on a fault deep within the earth breaks through to the surface. At what depth do earthquakes occur? What is the significance of the depth?

Earthquakes occur in the crust or upper mantle , which ranges from the earth's surface to about kilometers deep about miles.

The strength of shaking from an earthquake diminishes with increasing distance from the earthquake's source, so the strength of shaking at the surface from an earthquake that occurs at km deep is considerably Why are there so many earthquakes in the Geysers area in Northern California?

The major seismic hazards in the region are from large earthquakes occurring along regional faults that are located miles away from the geothermal field, such as the San Andreas and Healdsburg-Rodgers Creek faults. However, activities associated with What is an earthquake and what causes them to happen? An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel.

In California there Can the position of the moon or the planets affect seismicity? Earthquakes are equally as likely to occur in the morning or the evening. Many studies in the past have shown no significant correlations between the rate of earthquake occurrence and the semi-diurnal tides when using large earthquake catalogs.

Several recent studies, however, have found a correlation between earth tides caused by the position of Filter Total Items: Wald, Lisa A.