EARTHQUAKES BY: JUSTIN, SHANNON, AND DARRELL

WHAT CAUSES EARTHQUAKES TO OCCUR? Earthquakes are caused by plates shifting in the earths crust. When other plates bump or slide past each other the earth’s crust shakes and shudders. If a tsunami is coming there will be an earthquake before the tsunami comes. Most earthquakes happen near a fault. A fault is a line where the plates meet.

WHAT ARE WAYS THAT PEOPLE MEASURE THE STRENGTH AND SEVERITY OF EARTHQUAKES? The first earthquakes detector was invented by a Chinese man named Chang Heng. It works by if one of the things shakes it will come from that direction. Another scale is the Richter scale. The Richter scale works by squiggles on paper and by the size of the squiggles scientists can see how big the earthquake is on a scale from one to ten. Seismographs are very sensitive pendulums. The support of the pendulum attaches to the ground. A pen attached to the pendulum tracks on the moving paper below. When there is no vibration, it makes a smooth lines.

WHAT ARE SOME LOCATIONS AND DATES OF FAMOUS EARTHQUAKES One of the earthquakes was in San Francisco, California on April 18,1906. more than 3000 people were killed. Another earthquake was in Wyoming. It happened on February third, Only one person was killed in this earthquake. Another earthquake was in central California on December people were killed.

HOW DO EARTHQUAKES EFFECT WHO LIVE ON EARTH Earthquakes effect people on earth because people’s houses get destroyed by the shaking of the earthquakes and they do not have enough time to get out of there homes. People are also crammed into small spaces and lay there for all eternity. And people fall into the cracks of the earth. Trees, buildings, glass, cars and much much more will fall on top of them.

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