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Earthquakes are the a rapid movement of the Earth’s outer layers at fault lines. ... Earthquakes are caused when the pressure within the crust finally exceeds the strength of the rocks. The destruction an earthquake causes depends on its magnitude and duration, or to what degree and how long the shaking lasts. Earthquakes can change the anatomy of the surface of the earth, cause buildings and other structures to collapse, and set in motion tsunamis or large sea waves. Over the last five hundred years several million people have been killed by earthquakes. ...
Stresses in the Earth’s crust also create fault lines these faults lead to earthquakes. The dimensions of an earthquake depend strongly on the type of fault slip, or movement along the fault, that causes the earthquake. ... Most earthquakes are caused by a sudden slide along geologic faults or fault lines. ...
Seismologists have developed a generally accepted theory regarding the causes of earthquakes called Plate Tectonics. ... After studying the worldwide distribution of earthquakes, the pattern of earthquake types, and the movement of the Earth’s rocky crust, scientists proposed that plate tectonics was the main underlying cause of earthquakes. Scientists now use the plate tectonics theory to describe the movement of the Earth’s plates and how this movement causes earthquakes (65-79).
They also use the knowledge of plate tectonics to explain the locations of earthquakes, mountain formation, and deep ocean trenches, and to predict which areas will be damaged the most by earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey website states that seismologists generally classify naturally occurring earthquakes into one of two categories: interplate and intraplate.
Approximate Word count = 1272
Approximate Pages = 5.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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