Elastic-rebound theory

Summary

Elastic-rebound theory explains how earthquakes happen on faults. The motion of the plates slowly deforms the rocks on the two sides of a locked fault. The rocks store elastic strain energy, as described by linear elasticity. When the stress on the fault exceeds its frictional strength, the fault slips suddenly and the rocks spring back. The stored energy is released as seismic waves and heat. Harry Fielding Reid proposed the theory after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is the basis of the earthquake cycle and of models of recurrence.