Learn About Earthquakes

How do earthquakes happen
Although the ground we walk on seems solid, the earth is actually made up of huge pieces of flat rock called tectonic plates. These move very slowly, and where they meet is called a fault. When the plates rub together, the movement forces waves of energy to come to the earth's surface. This causes tremors and shakes and this is what causes earthquakes.

Where are the tectonic plates
There are dozens of tectonic plates on earth but only about seven are huge plates. The largest include the African Plate, Antarctic Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, South American Plate. Click here to see the tectonic plates

What is a fault
A fault is a break in the earth's crust along which movement can take place causing an earthquake.

Can we predict earthquakes
Scientists today accept that we are not yet able to accurately predict earthquakes. We can't predict strength, time or place successfully, so they instead calculate the seismic hazards of a certain region.

Can animals sense earthquakes
The belief that animals can predict earthquakes has been around for centuries. But precisely what animals sense, if they feel anything at all, is a mystery. One theory is that wild and domestic creatures feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Other ideas suggest they detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth.

How are earthquakes recorded
Earthquakes are recorded by a seismographic network. Each seismic station in the network measures the movement of the ground at the site. The slip of one block of rock over another in an earthquake releases energy that makes the ground vibrate. That vibration pushes the adjoining piece of ground and causes it to vibrate, and thus the energy travels out from the earthquake in a wave. There are many different ways to measure different aspects of an earthquake. Magnitude is the most common measure of an earthquake's size. It is a measure of the size of the earthquake source and is the same number no matter where you are or what the shaking feels like. The Richter scale measures the largest wiggle on the recording, but other magnitude scales measure different parts of the earthquake.