WHAT CAUSES AN EARTHQUAKE ?

EARTHQUAKES

Hi friends. I'll to tell you something about earthquake. Firstly, do you know what causes an earthquake ? When Earth’s rocky outer surface shakes, we feel it as an earthquake. Earthquakes occur more than a thousand times a day around the world. Their movements may be so slight that they go unnoticed or so strong that they cause damage to buildings and loss of life. Read the following article to know it ! happy reading :D

Earthquakes are movements in Earth’s crust. The crust is Earth’s rocky outer layer, the solid ground that we live on. Earth’s crust is broken up into many gigantic sections of rigid rock called plates. The plates slide around slowly on a layer of hot, melted rock deep inside Earth. Sometimes the plates crash together. Sometimes the edge of one plate slides under another plate.

Faults are cracks in Earth’s crust between the huge plates. Earthquakes usually happen along faults. The plates on each side of a fault press against each other with tremendous force. An earthquake occurs when the rock along the edge suddenly gives way. Huge chunks of rock underground break and move. They can jolt upward or they can dive down. Sometimes the blocks of rock along a fault grind sideways past each other.

The place where the rock breaks is called the focus of the earthquake. It is usually underground. The breaking and moving makes waves travel through the ground. The waves go through the ground the way waves go through water. The ground ripples and shakes.

The place on the ground directly above the focus is called the epicenter. Earthquakes are strongest near their epicenters. Earthquake waves go out in big circles. Waves made by a powerful earthquake can travel thousands of miles!
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