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The stresses required to rupture faults in earthquakes, and the controls on their behaviour, have long been sources of debate. In this talk I will describe some recent results from continental and oceanic settings that shed new light on these issues. The orientations of faults, and the distribution of slip in earthquakes, provides constraints upon the stresses on the faults. The postseismic deformation that follows major events gives insights into how earthquakes and active faults build geological structures. When combined, these sources of information can be used to obtain a coherent overall view of the mechanics of earthquake-prone active fault zones. |