  This study investigates elastic deformation driven by the Hall drift in a
magnetized neutron-star crust. Although the dynamic equilibrium initially holds
without elastic displacement, the magnetic-field evolution changes the Lorentz
force over a secular timescale, which inevitably causes the elastic deformation
to settle in a new force balance. Accordingly, elastic energy is accumulated,
and the crust is eventually fractured beyond a particular threshold. We assume
that the magnetic field is axially symmetric, and we explicitly calculate the
breakup time, maximum elastic energy stored in the crust, and spatial
shear-stress distribution. For the barotropic equilibrium of a poloidal dipole
field expelled from the interior core without a toroidal field, the breakup
time corresponds to a few years for the magnetars with a magnetic field
strength of $\sim 10^{15}$G; however, it exceeds 1 Myr for normal radio
pulsars. The elastic energy stored in the crust before the fracture ranges from
$10^{41}$ to $10^{45}$ erg, depending on the spatial-energy distribution.
Generally, a large amount of energy is deposited in a deep crust. The energy
released at fracture is typically $\sim 10^{41}$ erg when the rearrangement of
elastic displacements occurs only in the fragile shallow crust. The amount of
energy is comparable to the outburst energy on the magnetars.
