EARTYHQUAKE Question!!!! A Geologist would be best!!!?

Question

Hi.
I have an earthquake question which would be best answered by a geologist in the community. Members who know the answer that is CORRECT are welcomed!!!
Q1: Do the earthquakes happen randomly or is there a pattern to their locations? Explain your answer.
Q2: State what conclusion you can draw about the pattern of earthquakes and its fit to other global patterns of the Earth's crust. Be very specific and detailed in your conclusion.
Thankyou in advance!

Answer 1

earthquakes do not occur randomly. they occur along faultlines, places where the earth's tectonic plates meet.

the crust is made up of several plates that are all moving. some converge, some are pulling apart from each other. all of these motions produce earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the formation of mountains and other things.

the link provides an image of earthquake occurrences. the boundaries of the plates are easily noticeable in this image
http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/dtam/images/global.gif

in the future, it might be nice to give regular answerers some credit. you don't have to be a professional to know the answers to questions. you just have to know where to look, take some time to read, and you can learn anything.

plus, you'll get more answers. if someone sees "geologist would be best" they'll pass over the question. and as there probably aren't too many professional geologists lurking around on here, you won't get any answers.

Answer 2

Answer 1- By and large earthquakes do not occur randomly. The global distribution of epicenters show a concentration or clustering along (a) Convergent plate boundaries like Circum-pacific, Alpine-Himalayan mountain belt etc., (b) Divergent Plate boundaries like Mid-Atlantic ridge and (c) Along transform faults cutting through the mid-oceanic ridges.Some epicenters fall outside these defined belts which are of local significance like due to volcanic activities, energy release along local faults/thrusts etc., reservoir induced seismicity.
Answer-2 The above reply is the answer. The plates cut through the geographical boundaries of nations, continents and land mass and the epicenter cluster follows these boundaries faithfully.
thnks

Answer 3

1) I guess you mean where and not when. There is a pattern in 'where'. The other answerer was correct in saying that they occur along plate boundaries and fault lines. There isn't a lot of pattern 'when'. EQs can be difficult to predict, if not impossible. Early warning systems are being developed but they can only do so much.

2) Knowing what you do from number one, about how EQs follow plate boundaries and faults, you should be able to field this one on your own.

Answer 4

poster #1 is correct......in the future I would suggest you do your own homework instead of asking for a spoonfed answer...you'll learn more