- Many natural events such as volcanic
eruptions or meteor impacts can cause an earthquake, but the
majority of naturally-occurring earthquakes are caused by
movements of the earth's plates.
- 20 constantly moving plates make up
the surface of the earth. As the plates move they put force on
themselves and each other, which, when large enough, causes the
crust to break. When the break occurs, the stress is released as
energy which moves through the Earth in the form of waves, which
we feel and call an earthquake.
- According to the U.S. Geological
Survey, more than three million earthquakes occur every year.
That's about 8,000 a day or one every 11 seconds! The vast
majority of these quakes are extremely weak.
- Almost 80 percent of all the planet's
earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, called the "Ring
of Fire," a region that encircles the Pacific Ocean and is home to 452
volcanoes, that’s over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.
- Each year the southern California area has about 10,000 earthquakes. Most of are so small that they are not felt. If there is a large earthquake, however, the aftershock sequence will produce many more earthquakes of all magnitudes for many months.
- The largest recorded earthquake in the
United States was a magnitude 9.2 that struck Prince
William Sound, Alaska on March 28, 1964.
- The largest recorded earthquake in the
world was a magnitude 9.5 in Chile on May 22, 1960.
- When the Chilean earthquake occurred
in 1960, seismographs recorded seismic waves that traveled all
around the Earth. These seismic waves shook the entire earth for many
days.
- Usually, it's not the shaking ground
itself that claims lives – it's the associated destruction of
man-made structures and the instigation of other natural
disasters, such as tsunamis, avalanches, and landslides.
- An undersea earthquake in the Indian
Ocean triggered a series of devastating tsunamis on December 26,
2004. The tsunamis struck along the coasts of most landmasses
bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in
eleven countries and inundating coastal communities with waves up to
100 feet high.
- Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state and one of the most seismically active regions in the world, experiencing a magnitude 7.0 earthquake almost every year, and a magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake on average every 14 years.
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Sources:
National Earthquake Information CenterWeather Wiz Kids
Red Cross