一些人相信一场大的地震可以使加利福尼亚州倾入太平洋中。但是这是有科学根据的吗？



Hints:
San Andreas
subduction zones
thrust faults

选材／校对／翻译：hqj5715
Hollywood spends millions making movies about massive earthquakes destroying California. Some believe a large earthquake is going to send California careening into the Pacific. But is any of this based on scientific fact? Earthquakes are caused by sudden slips along faults where two sections of the earth's crust move past each other. Friction keeps the crust from moving smoothly, stress builds up and rock slips suddenly, releasing energy in waves. These waves are the shaking we feel during earthquakes. California has several large faults including the San Andreas. They are strike slip faults that move horizontally against each other, or dip slip faults that slide vertically. These faults can create fairly large earthquakes, but if you're looking for “the big one,” of a magnitude ten or higher, you need to look elsewhere. Mega earthquakes typically occur in subduction zones where one continental plate moves under another in what are called thrust faults. These zones can store up energy for many centuries before releasing it as a devastating quake and tsunami.
好莱坞花费数百万美元制作了一部巨大的地震摧毁加利福尼亚州的电影。一些人相信一场大的地震可以使加利福尼亚州倾入太平洋中。但是这是有科学根据的吗？ 地震的产生是伴随地壳两个不同的部分互相穿过时断层的突然撞击而产生的。摩擦使地球不能平稳的移动，产生压力，岩石突然滑落，以波浪的形式释放能量。这些能量波便是我们在地震中所感受到的晃动。 加利福尼亚州含有包括 San Andreas断层在内的几个大断层。他们是具有攻击性的滑动断层沿着水平面互相运动，或者是下沉的断层垂直滑动。 这些断层能够产生巨大的地震，但是如果你正在寻找这巨大的一个，大于十级或者更高的，你需要去别的地方找了。 百万级的地震一般发生在下沉的范围内，在这一区域内一个大陆板块在我们称之为突出断层的另一板块下移动。这一范围可以在其以破坏性的振动和海啸释放之前能够储存几个世纪的能量。