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Most earthquakes occur at a depth of between 13-18 km. This is the Brittle-Ductile Transition zone and marks the strongest part of Earth's crust. Below this rocks deform plastically and so fractures cannot form and earthquakes do not occur.

The exception to this is where subduction zones cause the lithospheric plate to descend deeply onto the mantle. This material is still brittle and so can cause earthquakes at much greater than normal depths.

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9y ago

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