In geophysics, a fault is a fracture or zone of fractures within Earth’s crust along which measurable displacement has occurred due to tectonic stress. Faults accommodate brittle deformation and are characterized by a fault plane (or surface), a slip direction, and associated structures such as fault gouge and breccia. They are classified by kinematics into normal, reverse (including thrust), and strike-slip types, reflecting the dominant stress regime (extensional, compressional, or shear). Faults influence strain localization, fluid migration, and seismicity, with many earthquakes resulting from sudden slip episodes governed by frictional and elastic properties of the surrounding rocks.
Earthquake faults deep in Earth can glue themselves back together following a seismic event, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The work, published in Science Advances, adds ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 19, 2025
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Predicting earthquakes has long been an unattainable fantasy. Factors like odd animal behaviors that have historically been thought to forebode earthquakes are not supported by empirical evidence. As these factors often occur ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 19, 2025
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A UCLA-led team of scientists has uncovered how the devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar in March 2025 produced one of the longest and fastest-moving ruptures ever recorded on land.
Earth Sciences
Oct 30, 2025
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Earthquakes often bring to mind images of destruction, of the Earth breaking open and altering landscapes. But after an earthquake, the area around it undergoes a period of post-seismic deformation, where areas that didn't ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2025
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Scientists have uncovered a key piece of the puzzle behind the unusual "slow earthquakes" occurring off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.
Earth Sciences
Aug 18, 2025
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Megathrust earthquakes are large earthquakes that occur on faults found along the boundaries between tectonic plates. The Nankai Trough is a megathrust earthquake zone lying off the southwestern coast of Japan, and experts ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 23, 2025
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Dramatic CCTV video of fault slip during a large earthquake in Myanmar thrilled both scientists and casual observers when it was posted to YouTube. But it was on his fifth or sixth viewing, said geophysicist Jesse Kearse, ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 21, 2025
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Chinese researchers have recently challenged the long-held belief that "all life depends on sunlight." In a study published in Science Advances, the researchers identified how microbes in deep subsurface areas can derive ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 18, 2025
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New research led by the University of Victoria (UVic) has illuminated a significant and previously unrecognized source of seismic hazard for the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada.
Earth Sciences
Jul 16, 2025
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Scientists for the first time have detected a slow slip earthquake in motion during the act of releasing tectonic pressure on a major fault zone at the bottom of the ocean.
Earth Sciences
Jun 26, 2025
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