For the first time in history, scientists have observed the rupture of a tectonic plate in a subduction zone in real time. The study, published in the scientific journal Science Advances, was ...

Beneath our feet, the Earth is in a constant, slow negotiation with itself. Tectonic plates grind, lock, flex, and ...

Scientists say the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults are more stressed than at any time in 1,000 years, raising questions about future California quakes.

With unprecedented clarity, scientists have directly observed a subduction zone—the collision point where one tectonic plate dives beneath another—actively breaking apart. The discovery, reported in ...

California isn’t exactly where it used to be. Here’s how earthquakes have gradually reshaped the state over time.

Subduction zones arise where one tectonic plate descends beneath another, driving a suite of processes that shape Earth’s surface and generate significant seismic hazards. At these convergent margins, ...

New research finds the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems are in a “critically loaded” state, with stress levels that could support large earthquakes.

Earth’s lithosphere is partitioned into tectonic plates whose relative movements generate stress accumulation along plate boundaries and faults. Interactions ranging from subduction and continental ...