FAQ - Earthquakes, Faults, Plate Tectonics, Earth Structure
Q: How do we know a fault exists?
A:
- If the earthquake left surface evidence, such as surface ruptures or fault scarps (cliffs made by earthquakes)
- If a large earthquake has broken the fault since we began instrumental recordings in 1932
- if the fault produces small earthquakes that we can record with the denser seismographic network established in the 1970s.
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