🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Jul24.173220.21793@hellgate.utah.edu> tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman) writes:
>
>  I am wondering if there is some autocatalytic element in earth-quakes. 
>That is- does the beginning of a slippage induce further slippage by
>reducing friction or through some other mechanism?  Is the quake self
>amplifying- and is that why they occur with tremendous energy rather than
>as a series of small imperceptible quakes?
>
>  Is there any sort of amplification process in this deal?  (The implication
>being that earthquakes may indeed be truly unpredictable)

There are areas where the fault motion tends to be a sequence of very
frequent but small quakes (e.g. Hollister, CA.).  Where the big quakes
happen are areas where the faults are "locked", but the landmasses on
either side are still moving.  This causes stress to build up in the
rocks until something gives.  Like most materials, once a crack starts,
this forms a region of intense stress which will propagate the crack.
Then the fault will tend to move until most of the stress is gone.
As the fault settles into its new configuration, more slippages occur
as the stress patterns "settle down" (aftershocks).

Art