Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy stored in rocks that have been deformed by tectonic stresses over long periods of time. When the stresses overcome the friction holding rocks together along faults, the rocks rupture and slip rapidly, causing the shaking and waves that characterize an earthquake. Earthquakes can be measured by both intensity, which gauges damage levels, and magnitude, which relies on seismic data to estimate the energy released at the source. The largest recorded quakes have reached magnitudes of 9.5.