1. Earthquakes Joshua Cullen 3AB

2. What are earthquakes? An earthquake is when tectonic plates rub together. When tectonic plates slip they are called a fault or a fault plane. Tectonic plates are just like a HUGE jigsaw puzzle covering the earth. These pieces are moving all the time, but very slowly. This is a map of where the tectonic plates are.

3. Where do earthquakes happen?

4. How dangerous are earthquakes? Number of people killedWhereDate 830,000China23 January 1556 273,400China16 December 1920 242,769China28 July 1976 240,000Turkey21 May 526 230,210Indonesia26 December 2004 230,000Syria11 October 1138 100,000 – 316,000Haiti12 January 2010 These are some of the most dangerous earthquakes that have been recorded.

5. What can earthquakes do? Earthquakes can destroy buildings and break roads. Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis if they happen under the sea. A tsunami is a HUGE tidal wave. The word tsunami is Japanese and means harbour (‘tsu’) wave (‘nami’).