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An active fault is a fault that has displayed recent seismic activity, while an inactive fault has not displayed recent seismic activity.
Do not be fooled by the word "recent," however, as we are talking about "recent" from a geological perspective, which is much different from a non-geologic perspective. Because of the fickle nature of plate tectonics, an active fault could have earthquakes as often as once every few years or once every one thousand years. Conversely, it's very hard to call a fault inactive if we don't know it's quake history, and for some faults, geologists will wait ten thousand years in between quakes to call them inactive.
There are a variety of techniques that geologists can use to help them determine the frequency of earthquakes among faults, however. If a history of quakes coming from the fault are available, scientists can look at the average period of time in between quakes to determine whether a fault is presently "active" or "inactive." Scientists can also measure creep among fault lines to check for seismic activity.
There really is no way to concretely define a fault as "active" or "inactive" (especially because inactive faults can suddenly become active again), but it's more or less safe to say that if a fault hasn't shown tectonic activity for about 5,600 years, it's probably inactive.
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Just to add to that explanation, if movement occurs on long-quiescent fault in a new phase of tectonic activity, the fault is described as 're-activated', and the new movement can be the opposite to the original.
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RafaActive faults are currently moving and have the potential to generate earthquakes, while inactive faults have not moved recently and are not expected to generate earthquakes in the near future. Active faults are considered more hazardous because they can cause seismic events, whereas inactive faults are generally considered less of a threat.
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What are active faults and inactive?
Active faults are faults that have experienced recent movement and are likely to do so again in the future, posing a seismic hazard. Inactive faults, on the other hand, are faults that have not moved in a significant way for a long time and are not likely to generate future seismic activity.
What is differentiate active and inactive faults?
Active faults can generate earthquakes and represent sources of seismic energy. Inactive faults can no longer generate earthquakes but did so in the past. +++ They can, but really the earthquake is the effect of the movement on the fault, so not the defining mechanism. ' An active fault is one still moving (albeit usually in small, irregular steps over millions of years); an inactive fault is stable. If a new phase of tectonic stresses arrive, an inactive fault can be 're-activated', in many cases with the movement in the opposite direction. A fault is a fracture with displacement, and that movement is of the rock on one side of the fault-plane across the other.
What is inactive fault?
According to the book Natural Hazards, most geologist consider a particular fault to be an active fault if it has not moved during the past 10,000 years of the Holocene Epoch.
What are the examples of inactive faults in the Philippines?
Examples of inactive faults in the Philippines include the Lubang Fault in Oriental Mindoro, the Masbate Fault in Masbate, and the Tangusan Fault in Leyte. These faults are considered inactive because they have not shown any significant movement or seismic activity in recent history.
Why don't all faults cause earthquakes?
Not all faults cause earthquakes because not all faults have built up enough stress and tension to suddenly rupture and release energy. Some faults are inactive or have slow, gradual movement that does not generate seismic activity. Additionally, the size and orientation of faults can also affect whether or not they are capable of causing earthquakes.
