Read the following scenarios. then, select the scenario that is least likely to produce an earthquake.

a
a volcano suddenly erupts. the magma exerts pressure on the rock surrounding the volcano and causes a break.

b
seismic waves are moving in various directions. these waves cause the area around the waves to move up and down and back and forth.

c
a large piece of rock breaks off a mountain. it rolls down the side of the mountain in a destructive path.

d
a piece of rock along a fault line abruptly shifts. this causes the ground to move suddenly.

C

A large piece of rock breaks off a mountain. It rolls down the side of the mountain in a destructive path.

explanation:

metals have excess of electrons whereas non-metals have deficiency of electrons. thus, in order to gain stability metals easily donate their electrons to the non-metals.

for example, electronic configuration of sodium is and electronic configuration of phosphorous is .

when a phosphorous atom and sodium atom combine together then sodium will donate is extra one electron to the phosphorous atom. as a result there will be formation of ionic bond between sodium and phosphorous.

the reaction will be as follows.

there, are three sodium sodium atoms and each of them will donate its one extra electron to phosphorous atom. thus, the sub-shell of phosphorous gets completely filled.  

thus, we can conclude that electrons are transferred from atoms of sodium to atoms of phosphorous. this transfer makes the sodium atoms donate one electron and the phosphorous atoms to gain one electron. as a result, the sodium and phosphorus atoms strongly attract each other.