Why do earthquakes often happen at the same fault again and again?
Quick Answer
Faults are zones where stress keeps rebuilding as tectonic plates move. Once one part slips, nearby sections can remain locked and rupture later in repeated earthquakes.
The Full Story
A fault does not become permanently 'fixed' after one earthquake. Plate motion continues after the rupture, slowly rebuilding stress on the same or adjacent fault segments. Because faults can be made of multiple locked patches, one earthquake may relieve stress in one area while leaving another ready to fail later. The San Andreas Fault in California and Japan's major plate-boundary faults are well-known examples of regions that produce repeated seismic activity.
Key Facts
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"Why the same fault can shake the earth more than once"
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