Sadia Aslam Khan

Theories of Earthquake

 Elastic rebound theory:

After the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, geophysicist Harry Fielding Reid examined the
displacement of the ground surface along the San Andreas Fault in the 50 years before the
earthquake. He found evidence for 3.2 m of bending during that period. According to his theory
A tectonic earthquake occurs when strains in rock masses have accumulated to a point where
the resulting stresses exceed the strength of the rocks, and sudden fracturing results.
The fractures propagate rapidly through the rock, usually tending in the same direction and
sometimes extending many kilometres along a local zone of weakness.

The Theory of Plate Tectonics:

Developed from the 1950s to the 1970s, the theory of plate tectonics is the modern update
to continental drift, an idea first proposed by scientist Alfred Wegener in 1912 which stated
that Earth’s continents had "drifted" across the planet over time. Wegener didn't have an
explanation for how continents could move around the planet,

but researchers do now: Plate tectonics.

According to this theory, the crust i.e., the upper part of the Earth has been formed out of
seven major and some minor plates. The movement of these plates resulted in building up of
stresses within the plates, leading to folding, faulting and volcanic activities.

The theory of plate tectonics is based on several assumptions, the most important of which are:
1. New plate material is generated at ocean ridges, or constructive plate boundaries, by
sea-floor spreading.
2. The Earth's surface area is constant, therefore the generation of new plate material
must be balanced by the destruction of plate material elsewhere at destructive plate
boundaries. Such boundaries are marked by the presence of deep ocean trenches and
 volcanic island arcs in the oceans and, when continental lithosphere is involved, mountain
chains.
3. Plates are rigid and can transmit stress over long distances without internal deformation
- relative motion between plates is accommodated only at plate boundaries.
How to measure the earth quake:
 Earthquakes are measured using seismographs, which monitor the seismic waves that
travel through the Earth after an earthquake strikes.
 Scientists used the Richter Scale for many years but now largely follow the "moment
magnitude scale," which the U.S. Geological Survey says is a more accurate measure of
size.