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Glossary of earthquake terms
The Landers fault (red lines at left) and the
Hector Mine fault and its aftershocks (red lines and circles
at right). The Hector Mine earthquake was a magnitude 7.1, and
it produced thousands of aftershocks. (Image courtesy of Egill
Hauksson, Caltech)
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Aftershocks
Aftershocks are earthquakes
that follow the largest shock of an earthquake sequence. They
are smaller than the mainshock and within 1-2 fault lengths distance
from the mainshock fault. Aftershocks can continue over a period
of weeks, months, or years. In general, the larger the mainshock,
the larger and more numerous the aftershocks, and the longer they
will continue.
See also Earthquake
ABC's.
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