Have a brick laying on a countertop with a large rubber band wrapped around in on the side so the brick has full contact on the counter. Pull the rubber band like your trying to move the brick in one direction and measure with a ruler the length the rubber band stretches before the brick moves. You'll find that there is no pattern in your measurements when you do this, and it seems the distance before the brick moves is random. This experiment emulates that elestic nature and friction of plate tectonics rubbing against each other and why we haven't been able to predict exactly when earthquakes happen.
Sir_Synn t1_j9pkrtu wrote
Reply to comment by Disquietudette in Magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes Tajikistan, near border with China by Papppi-56
Have a brick laying on a countertop with a large rubber band wrapped around in on the side so the brick has full contact on the counter. Pull the rubber band like your trying to move the brick in one direction and measure with a ruler the length the rubber band stretches before the brick moves. You'll find that there is no pattern in your measurements when you do this, and it seems the distance before the brick moves is random. This experiment emulates that elestic nature and friction of plate tectonics rubbing against each other and why we haven't been able to predict exactly when earthquakes happen.