What causes earthquakes?
Earthquakes are one of the world’s most dangerous natural disasters. This is because they come with little warning and go, leaving a tremendous amount of damage. All the shaking and movement happens deep underground but the surface also shakes a lot too. This is where all the damage occurs. Buildings fall down, roads and bridges collapse, land and mud slide down hills and mountains move.
The earth has four layers. The inner core, outer core, mantle and the crust. The crust on the very top of the mantle make up the surface of our planet, Earth. The surface isn’t just one piece. It is many pieces of the surface called tectonic plates. They all fit together like a puzzle and are constantly moving. This is because the substance underneath them is a magna fluid. This is a bit like ice on top of a pond. They are not locked in place and are kind of floating about. They are always sliding past one another and also bumping and colliding together. The edges of tectonic plates are called the plate boundaries. The plate boundaries are made up of faults and this is where earthquakes are most likely to happen. Since the plate edges are quite rough, they often get stuck all the while the plate keeps moving. When one plate has moved far enough, a sudden loss of traction causes a slip and the edges unstick on one of the faults. This is what causes and earthquake.
Earthquakes are one of the world’s most dangerous natural disasters. This is because they come with little warning and go, leaving a tremendous amount of damage. All the shaking and movement happens deep underground but the surface also shakes a lot too. This is where all the damage occurs. Buildings fall down, roads and bridges collapse, land and mud slide down hills and mountains move.
The earth has four layers. The inner core, outer core, mantle and the crust. The crust on the very top of the mantle make up the surface of our planet, Earth. The surface isn’t just one piece. It is many pieces of the surface called tectonic plates. They all fit together like a puzzle and are constantly moving. This is because the substance underneath them is a magna fluid. This is a bit like ice on top of a pond. They are not locked in place and are kind of floating about. They are always sliding past one another and also bumping and colliding together. The edges of tectonic plates are called the plate boundaries. The plate boundaries are made up of faults and this is where earthquakes are most likely to happen. Since the plate edges are quite rough, they often get stuck all the while the plate keeps moving. When one plate has moved far enough, a sudden loss of traction causes a slip and the edges unstick on one of the faults. This is what causes and earthquake.