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Earthquakes

An earthquake is the sudden, sometimes violent movement of the earth's surface from the release of energy in the earth's crust. The energy quickly travels outward in waves from the point of breakage. Most earthquakes occur at depths less than 100 km, where rocks are brittle. Earthquakes can be so small that most people don’t notice them. Most earthquakes result from movements of the earth’s crust along faults. A fault is a fracture in the earth’s crust. The two sides of a fault move in different directions. These opposing movements set the stage for earthquakes to occur.

They cause the two sides of a fault to move past each other. Sometimes the rocks along the two sides of a fault may snag and remain locked. Tremendous stress builds in these areas as a the two sides of the fault attempt to move past each other.
The limit to how much stress a material can absorb is called its elastic limit: If you strech a rubber band too far, it will break and snap back.......

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Approximate Word Count: 3029
Approximate Pages: 13 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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