Faults, Earthquake Geology, and Special Earthquake Studies

Repeated earthquakes shape the Earth over the millennia and fault zones often have unique and diagnostic landforms caused by the faulting process. In order to measure the rate at which the Earth’s crust deforms between, during and after earthquakes, precise measurements need to be made along active faults zones.

The constant plate tectonic motions between the Pacific and North American plates guarantees that the crust in the western US is continually building up stress. Crustal deformation refers to the changing earth’s surface caused by tectonic forces that are accumulated in the crust and then cause earthquakes.