What causes the most destruction from earthquakes? 1,when the ground shakes violently
2.when large cracks open in the Earth's crust swallowing structures and people
3.when fault movement causes magma to break through the crust causing volcanoes
4.collapsing structures, fires, electrical lines, and tsunamis

Enormous slabs of lithosphere move unevenly over the planet’s spherical surface, resulting in earthquakes. This chapter deals with two types of geological activity that occur because of plate tectonics: mountain building and earthquakes. First, we will consider what can happen to rocks when they are exposed to stress. Stress is the force applied to an object. In geosciences, stress is the force per unit area that is placed on a rock. Four types of stresses act on materials.