Real faults do not slide smoothly — stress builds along the rock until it snaps forward in a sudden jolt, a process called elastic rebound. A tabletop model shows this mechanism directly. You drag a heavy brick along a wooden track using an elastic cord, pulling at a steady speed. Even so, the brick jerks forward and stops, over and over. A vibration sensor connected to a computer records each burst of shaking on screen. That stop-and-go motion mirrors how fault zones build up stress and release it in the bursts we feel as earthquakes.