Tectonic plates creep along at a few centimetres a year, about the speed a fingernail grows, yet they do not slide smoothly. The two sides of a fault lock together while stress climbs in a sawtooth, until it beats their strength and releases in seconds: the stick-slip cycle, and the faster the plate moves, the more often that sawtooth repeats. The Ring of Fire gathers the memorable figure: the Pacific rim hosts roughly 75% of the planet’s volcanoes and 90% of its earthquakes.
Tectonic plates creep along at a few centimetres a year, about the speed a fingernail grows, yet they do not slide smoothly. The two sides of a fault lock together while stress climbs in a sawtooth, until it beats their strength and releases in seconds: the stick-slip cycle, and the faster the plate moves, the more often that sawtooth repeats. The Ring of Fire gathers the memorable figure: the Pacific rim hosts roughly 75% of the planet’s volcanoes and 90% of its earthquakes.
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