Earthquake
Like much of nature’s fury, earthquakes are short-lived. But their destruction echoes for years. Earthquake has been taking place since the beginning of time. And although scientists are better able to predict them today, earthquakes still cause enormous damage and great loss of life.
A sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action.
An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane. The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter.
Sometimes an earthquake has foreshocks. These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake that follows. Scientists can’t tell that an earthquake is a foreshock until the larger earthquake happens. The largest, main earthquake is called the main shock. Main shocks always have aftershocks that follow. These are smaller earthquakes that occur afterwards in the same place as the main shock. Depending on the size of the main shock, aftershocks can continue for weeks, months, and even years after the main shock!
Definitely Deadly
Fortunately, some earthquakes hit where few people live and work. Others, however, offer no such mercy. On of this deadly quakes occurred in Tangsha, China, in 1976. Registering 8.2 in Richter Scale, the quake killed 242,000 people.
A sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action.
An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane. The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter.
Sometimes an earthquake has foreshocks. These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake that follows. Scientists can’t tell that an earthquake is a foreshock until the larger earthquake happens. The largest, main earthquake is called the main shock. Main shocks always have aftershocks that follow. These are smaller earthquakes that occur afterwards in the same place as the main shock. Depending on the size of the main shock, aftershocks can continue for weeks, months, and even years after the main shock!
Definitely Deadly
Fortunately, some earthquakes hit where few people live and work. Others, however, offer no such mercy. On of this deadly quakes occurred in Tangsha, China, in 1976. Registering 8.2 in Richter Scale, the quake killed 242,000 people.