Let's pray for Croatia.
Under the action of high pressures in the rock masses of the Earth's crust, most often caused by the movement of larger blocks (broken parts) of the earth's crust, a sudden fracture of the rock mass occurs, accompanied by elastic deformations of surrounding rock masses, which then spread into space in the form of seismic waves. Permanent deformations (fractures) of the rock mass are manifested by the appearance of faults in the rock (fracture, crack). This whole complex tectonic process is called an earthquake, and this type of earthquake is called a tectonic earthquake.
The place where the rock fracture process begins, ie the genesis of the earthquake, is called the epicenter of the earthquake. Namely, the epicenter of the earthquake is the place of maximum stress concentration in the rocks of the earth's crust, where the beginning of rock fracture occurs. The epicenter of the earthquake is also called the hypocenter, and its vertical projection on the earth's surface is called the epicenter.
According to the method of occurrence, there are two basic types of earthquakes: natural and artificial. Of the natural earthquakes, the most common and most destructive are tectonic, then volcanic and finally Urvin earthquakes. Volcanic earthquakes are related to volcanic eruptions, while landslide earthquakes are caused by the rupture (sudden breaking, collapse) of large underground cavities (caves and caverns).
Artificial earthquakes occur due to human activity, ie its effect on the natural environment. The most common example of such activity can be observed in areas where large artificial accumulation lakes have been formed, where so-called induced earthquakes. The zone of accumulation "Piva" (Mratinje) in the northwest of Montenegro is one such typical example, where the seismic activity in the period after the first filling of the accumulation, is multiplied compared to the previous period. The group of artificial earthquakes also includes seismic activity stimulated by pumping water into deep wells (for example, for the purpose of exploiting geothermal energy from the Earth's interior).
