Predominantly due to friction. Major earthquakes (the ones you hear about on the news) occur at collision (where two tectonic plates are smashing together) and conservative (where two plates slide side-by-side) boundaries.
Rocks (which obviously make up tectonic plates) can undergo two types of deformation, ductile (or plastic) and brittle. When you put stress on these rocks, which happens when they rub against each other, they will usually undergo ductile deformation providing the stress is constant and fairly low. If you've ever been to a big mountain range like the Himalaya, you'll see folds in the rocks. This is ductile deformation.
Earthquakes occur when the stress reaches a point called the rupture point. When this point is reached, the rocks will not fold and twist, they'll simply break and energy is released, an earthquake. In plate tectonics, this happens in the Wadati-Benioff Zone (in collision boundaries).
The best illustration for this ductile/brittle deformation process is using one of those plastic rulers found in schools around the world (Staedtler type). You can bend the ruler and it will actually bend quite a long way. However, it will reach a critical point where it will stop bending and just snap, releasing energy in the process. This energy is effectively the same as seismic waves in earthquakes (albeit on a much smaller scale) that will cause material around it to vibrate. Big enough vibrations = buildings collapse.
Source: geography teacher and geology graduate.
No. Volcanoes and earthquakes, in simple terms, are produced by movements of Earth's tectonic plate and in the semisolid rocks of the mantle. They have absolutely nothing to do with tropical storms.
Faults DO NOT produce earthquakes, faults are produced by earthquakes. This means that earthquake loci are centered on and along faults. The energy released by an earthquake is the stress energy built up as a result of plate tectonic forces.
Tectonic Activity- activity that occurs as a result of tectonic plate movement, for example: earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building in general.
Some types of earthquakes are explosive,tectonic and underground.
earthquakes usually occur at tectonic plate boundaries
Earthquakes are caused when pressure builds up as two tectonic plates move together. As the pressure is released, an earthquake is produced.
the tectonic plates shake under the earth causing earthquakes
No. Volcanoes and earthquakes, in simple terms, are produced by movements of Earth's tectonic plate and in the semisolid rocks of the mantle. They have absolutely nothing to do with tropical storms.
It is the unsual movement of tectonic plates which causes tectonic earthquakes.
Faults DO NOT produce earthquakes, faults are produced by earthquakes. This means that earthquake loci are centered on and along faults. The energy released by an earthquake is the stress energy built up as a result of plate tectonic forces.
earthquakes can be caused by either tectonic or volcanic. Tectonic earthquakes are caused by movement of tectonic plates underneath the earth surface. Volcanic earthquakes are caused by volcanic activities underneath or above earth's surface.
uranus is a gas giant. Gas giants lack the tectonic plates (rocky plates floating on top of a molten core) necessary to have earthquakes. Only rocky planets which have tectonic plates can have earthquakes.
Most earthquakes occur at the boundaries of the tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are always in motion, and when two of them collide with one another it causes earthquakes.
Tectonic Activity- activity that occurs as a result of tectonic plate movement, for example: earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building in general.
well there can be earthquakes anywhere in the world because of the tectonic plates
Some types of earthquakes are explosive,tectonic and underground.
Yes. Southern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands border a subduction zone, where one tectonic plate slides under another. This subduction zone has produced some of the most powerful Earthquakes on Earth.