How are earthquakes in Hawaii different than those in southern California?

Feb 16, 2010 in Earthquake Questions

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3 comments

badaspie on February 16, 2010 at 11:20 am

Hawaii is on top of a volcanic hot spot in the middle of a tectonic plate, and the earthquakes are a direct result of the volcanic activity. Southern California is a geologically complex region on an active plate margin, and the quakes both directly (San Andreas fault system) and indirectly (numerous smaller thrust faults) related to relative motion between the moving plates.
Friedrich Wilhelm on February 16, 2010 at 11:20 am

Hawaii: vulcano origine, CA: two earth plates have collision.
erinbby[: on February 16, 2010 at 11:20 am

it all depends on how close we are to plates
in california we live right on a fault line ( san andreas fault ) when we have an earth quake it can be stronger here and not there it just depend on how the plate moves subduction etc. if it grinds together moves past each other or goes under each other.