John Gibson sent in a nice link via www.sis-group.org.uk/contact after reading a post on January 4th concerning solar activity and high magnetised earthquakes. He makes the point others, such as Friedemann Freund and Valentin Strasser have looked at the hypothesis of electro-magnetic coupling, speculating this process may be able to alter the balance present in rocks under tectonic stress and cause earthquakes. The following video comes from a presentation from the SETI Institute 'Living with a star dangerously' – www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndj85uAHrPg
Looking at earthquakes from a more conventional angle, at http://phys.org/print276954186.html … a study published by Nature in early January, led by geologist Rajdeep Davgupta, has proven in a laboratory experiment that rock can and does liquify – which is what is probably happening deep in the Mantle of the Earth. The Mantle is basically a buffer of rock between the crust, the top five miles or so, and the Core. The study focussed on Mantle beneath the ocean floor, where the crust is thought to be at its thinnest, and where new crust is formed. Magma, or molten rock, is thought to occur at 70km below. The study suggests magma may exist much deeper, as far as 20km below the ocean floor.
At http://phys.org/print276959868.html … earthquake fault modelling seems to show that even 'stable' zones contribute to the generation of earthquakes (with useful diagrams) which belies the over emphasis on fault and slip zones. Perhaps.