On the 12th of January, Haiti experienced a magnitude 7 earthquake. This was due to movement of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault that caused a sudden release of stored energy in the form of seismic waves.
Haiti is bounded to the north by the Oriente and Septentrional Fracture Zones and to the south by the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault which are both transform faults (very similar to the San Andreas Fault in the USA).
The Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault has been locked for approximately 250 years. As such, stresses have accumulated in the earth's crust over this time, causing energy to be stored in the form of elastic strain (like that in a compressed spring). Ultimately this stress has exceeded the shear strength of the crust in the fault zone causing a sudden brittle failure or rupture. This in turn causes movement and a sudden release of the stored elastic strain energy in the form of seismic waves (as well as heat and sound).
The rupture of the fault zone was approximately 65 km (40 miles) in length with an average slip of 1.8 m (5.9 ft). Analysis of seismometer data showed that the seismic waves produced by the movement on the fault had amplitudes of up to 4 m (13 ft).
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The earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010 occurred along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone. This fault system runs through the southern part of the country and was responsible for the devastating earthquake.
Strike-Slip fault is the most common fault type in the San Andreas fault system.
Port Hills Fault happened in 2011.
The Haitian earthquake in 2010 was caused by a slip along a previously unknown fault called the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone. It is a strike-slip fault that runs along the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates.
it happened on a blind fault (one where the fault line does not reach the surface)
Haiti is sandwiched north and south between two fault lines: the Septentrional Fault and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault. The epicenter of the Haitian earthquake of 12 January 2010 was 10 miles south of the capital Port Au Prince, directly on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault , at a depth of about 5.2 miles underground.
The major fault line that runs through Jamaica is the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault Zone. This fault is responsible for seismic activity in the region, including earthquakes.
The San Andreas Fault system is primarily a right-lateral strike-slip fault, where the two sides of the fault move horizontally past each other. This fault type is the most prevalent in the system and is responsible for the majority of the movement along the fault.
The Haiti 2010 earthquake was caused by a slip along a previously unrecognized fault line called the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system. This fault line runs directly through the highly populated areas near Port-au-Prince, resulting in widespread destruction and loss of life.
The 2010, magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone, which constitutes a portion of the North American-Caribbean plate boundary.
It's a transform boundary between two plates. The resultant fault of a transform boundary.
It happened along the Kego Fault zone.