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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.

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Q: How are tectonic earthquakes produced?
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How does earthquake occur?

Earthquakes are caused when pressure builds up as two tectonic plates move together. As the pressure is released, an earthquake is produced.


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How faults produce 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.


What are 2 causes of earthquake?

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What is tectonic activities?

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Does Alaska have earthquakes?

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