EARTHQUAKES

EARTHQUAKES

   Most earthquakes happen where tectonic plates rub against each other, in places called faults. Some faults move with a stady, verygradual creep. In other places,a length of fault can remain locked for years, decades, or centuries, before giving way in a few seconds.Earthquakes are caused by the shaking of the ground aftera rupture like this.The shallower the depth where the nrupture begins, the more severe the shaking is at the surface.

Measuring duakes

   The magnitude of an earthquake is a measure of the energy it releases. It can be measured using the moment magnitude scale, where a difference of one point corresponds to a 30-fold difference in energy. The intensity of an earthquake can be measured using the Mercalli Intensity scale (belowO), which grades earthquakes from I to XII, according to their effects.

Living with earthquakes





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   Earthquakes can occur anywhere in the world, but the most damaging ones usually happen near plate boundaries. Earthquakes can be very dangerous-buldings can fall down and huge cracks open up in the ground. In earthquake-prone areas, buildings can be designed to sway when there is an earthquake, so that they are not shaken apart. Their foundations must be built in solid rock rather than on sandy or wet ground.Biggest quakes- There have been many powerful earthquakes in the last 100 years. The largest, in chile, was storng enough to moverivers.