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What causes earthquakes?

Earthquakes occur when rock layers move along a break, or fault, in the subsurface. Why is there movement? Turns out the Earth's crust is broken up into large, country- or continent-sized plates which slowly move. Friction at plate boundaries builds up stress, like bending a ruler. If you bend a rule far enough, it will break - if the rocks drag against each other and build up enough stress, at some point they will break, too.

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