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How Earthquakes Work
10 Ways The World
Will End Videos
by Tom Harris
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Inside this Article
1. Introduction to How
Earthquakes Work
4. Faults
5. Seismic Waves
2. Earthquake Facts
6. Seismology
3. Plate Tectonics
7. See more »
More Science Videos »
An earthquake is one of the most terrifying
phenomena that nature can whip up. We generally
think of the ground we stand on as "rock-solid" and
completely stable. An earthquake can shatter that
perception instantly, and often with extreme
violence.
Natural Disasters Image Gallery
Up until relatively recently, scientists only had
unsubstantiated guesses as to what actually caused
earthquakes. Even today there is still a certain
amount of mystery surrounding them, but scientists
have a much clearer understanding.
There has been enormous progress in the past
century: Scientists have identified the forces that
cause earthquakes, and developed technology that
can tell us an earthquake's magnitude and origin.
AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The next hurdle is to find a way of predicting
Family members gather at the remains of the
earthquakes, so they don't catch people by surprise. collapsed Juyuan middle school, where six
children died in Dujiangyan, in southwest
China Sichuan province on May 12, 2008, after
In this article, we'll find out what causes
an earthquake measuring 7.8 rocked the
earthquakes, and we'll also find out why they can
province. See more pictures of natural
have such a devastating effect on us.
disasters.
Shaking Ground
Up Next
• How Volcanoes Work
• How Hurricanes Work
• Discovery.com: Make
a Quake
An earthquake is a vibration that travels through the earth's crust.
Technically, a large truck that rumbles down the street is causing
a mini-earthquake, if you feel your house shaking as it goes by,
but we tend to think of earthquakes as events that affect a fairly
large area, such as an entire city. All kinds of things can cause
earthquakes:
• volcanic eruptions
• meteor impacts
• underground explosions (an underground nuclear test, for example)
• collapsing structures (such as a collapsing mine)
But the majority of naturally-occurring earthquakes are caused by movements of the earth's plates, as
we'll see in the next section.
Related Content
Prices: Earthquake Books
Nicholas Shrady - The
Last Day: Wrath, Ruin,
and Reason in the Great
Lisbon Earthquake of
1755
Release Date: March 31,
2009
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What Are the Odds? Earthquake
What are the odds there will be an earthquake in the next 100 years? Learn
more about the probability of earthquakes in this video. (March, 2008)
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Inside this Article
1. Introduction to How Earthquakes Work
7. Richter Scale
2. Earthquake Facts
8. Predicting Earthquakes
9. Earthquake Preparedness
3. Plate Tectonics
4. Faults
10. Lots More Information
5. Seismic Waves
11. See all Natural Disasters articles
6. Seismology
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http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/earthquake.htm
22/10/2010