Natural Phenomena
Earthquake
Geological Events
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A sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust, most often caused by the abrupt slipping of rock along a fault, generating seismic waves that shake the ground and, in the largest events, can be felt across an entire region. Earthquake magnitude is measured on logarithmic scales reflecting total energy released, while shaking intensity at a given location depends on distance, depth and local geology. The vast majority of major earthquakes occur along tectonic plate boundaries, especially around the Pacific Ring of Fire.
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Associated With
Strong seismic shaking from an earthquake is a well-documented direct trigger of snow avalanches on unstable slopes.
Earthquake lights are luminous phenomena reported in the sky during or immediately before earthquake shaking, thought to arise from stress-induced electrical effects in rock; the phenomenon is defined by, and occurs during, the earthquake itself.
Earthquake-triggered landslides are one of the most common and destructive secondary hazards of strong seismic shaking on steep or saturated slopes.
Most destructive tsunamis are generated directly by large undersea earthquakes that vertically displace the seafloor and the water column above it.
Volcanic eruptions are typically preceded and accompanied by volcano-tectonic earthquakes and seismic swarms caused by magma movement through the crust, a mechanistic link volcanologists use to forecast eruptions.
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