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🌋 How do earthquakes happen?

Stuck faults store elastic strain, then slip — seismic waves carry the snap to your feet.

lessons

~10 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Adults

level

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What you’ll learn

When the crust snapsExplain elastic rebound and where strain typically accumulates.Faults stick and store strain, then slip. Plate boundaries host most large events; the mechanism is mechanical failure of rock.
Waves through rockDistinguish seismic wave types and magnitude versus intensity.P and S waves, then surface waves, carry energy. Magnitude sizes the source; intensity describes local shaking. Soft ground can amplify.
Aftershocks and honest predictionDescribe aftershocks and the limits of short-term prediction.Aftershocks rearrange stress after a mainshock. Long-term probabilities are real; minute-perfect prediction is not. Depth and setting shape secondary hazards.

Questions this course answers

Most tectonic earthquakes happen because…

Plates deform rock elastically until fault friction fails and slip radiates seismic waves.

Order typical seismic wave arrivals at a distant station

Body waves: P then S; surface waves often dominate felt shaking later on the record.

Why can aftershocks still be dangerous after the mainshock is over?

Aftershocks continue to load weakened buildings and slopes; danger does not end when the largest event finishes.

Grounded in trusted sources

USGS Earthquake Hazards Program educational pages
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) teaching modules
Henry Fielding Reid elastic rebound historical synthesis (1906 context)
Open university / textbook chapters on seismic waves and magnitude

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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