All About Earthquakes!
By Sayantika Roy...Mods 9-11A, 1/10/16
What are Earthquakes?
An earthquake is a violent shaking of the Earth. One of nature's most powerful forces, it can cause a lot of damage and debris. But what is the science of an earthquake? Let's find out!
Plate Tectonics:
To understand earthquakes, you must first understand the concept of plate tectonics. You see, the earth's surface is divided into tectonic plates. These plates move and collide with each other, creating natural landforms. There are three different types of boundaries: Divergent, Convergent,
and Transform Fault Boundaries...
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Earthquakes occur when a rock near a boundary is suddenly releases a ton of energy because of being released of the pressure and the strain that it was in.
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The two body waves released from an earthquake are P-waves and S-waves and they can help determine where the earthquake was located from a seismographic station.
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Earthquakes typically occur along plate boundaries and can trigger tsunamis, which are huge ocean waves that can cause a lot of damage.
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Earthquakes can be either a small shake or be incredibly destructive, releasing amounts of energy that atomic bombs could not be compared with.
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They are typically measured using the Richter scale; however, the Mercalli scale is also used.