Earthquakes and Society: Chapter 5 - Earthquake Faults

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts related to earthquake faults and their behavior as discussed in Chapter 5 of the lecture notes.

Creeping fault

A fault that moves slowly without producing significant earthquakes.

Locked fault

A fault that does not slip or create earthquakes until the tectonic forces exceed the locking forces.

Elastic rebound theory

A theory that describes how energy is released during an earthquake when the internal forces holding rocks together are overcome.

Postseismic slip

Movement that occurs along a fault after an earthquake, allowing the two flanks to continue shifting gradually.

Coseismic slip

The offset that occurs along a fault during an earthquake.

Hybrid fault

A fault that exhibits both creeping behavior and coseismic slip.

Earthquake cycle

The process of accumulating tectonic stress in a fault, followed by an earthquake that releases the stress, and repeat.

Folded rocks

Rocks that have deformed into curved or zig-zag patterns due to prolonged tectonic stress.

Seismic recording

The method of capturing and analyzing seismic activity and earthquakes.

Tectonic plates

Large sections of the Earth's lithosphere that move and interact with each other, causing geological phenomena such as earthquakes.