Question
What happens when stress builds at faults?
Energy is absorbed.
Rock can bend and break.
Plates form on the lithosphere.
Earthquakes develop at Earth’s surface.
Energy is absorbed.
Rock can bend and break.
Plates form on the lithosphere.
Earthquakes develop at Earth’s surface.
Answers
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
Rock can bend and break.
As stress accumulates along a fault rocks deform elastically (storing energy) and eventually fail (break). That sudden failure releases the stored energy as seismic waves — an earthquake — which may be felt at Earth’s surface.
As stress accumulates along a fault rocks deform elastically (storing energy) and eventually fail (break). That sudden failure releases the stored energy as seismic waves — an earthquake — which may be felt at Earth’s surface.