Earthquakes

 An earthquake is a weak to violent shaking of the ground produced by the sudden movement of rock materials below the earth’s surface.

 The earthquakes originate in tectonic plate boundary. The focus is point inside the earth where the earthquake started, sometimes called the hypocenter, and the point on the surface of the earth directly above the focus is called the epicenter.

Most of us give little actual thought to the fact that thousands of small earthquakes, also called temblors,

occur daily all over the world. We seldom feel these 

   

earthquake on road

small tremors as we move about our busy lives. Most earthquakes occur along the fault of tectonic plates. These mammoth slabs of the earth’s upper crust meet and move against each other, riding the partially molten layer of Earth’s mantle. However, these movements can be powerful enough to cause deep cracks where the plates meet and, in unstable zones, the intensifying pressure can ultimately trigger an earthquake

The factors that result in significant seismic events are quite varied and difficult to predict. Different fault lines contain different kinds of rocks, some stronger and some weaker. These rocks also react differently to friction and high temperatures. 

Some can melt, but others remain dry and can be prone to build up dangerous levels of pressure. 

All of these fault lines are also subject to varying degrees of both gravitational force and the current of molten rock moving under the Earth’s crust. 

We have to respect the reality of the threat and prepare for the possibility that a “big one” could occur any moment, and in unsuspecting places. We have to educate those we care about. Learning to accurately predict and prepare for earthquakes is a long game. Work continues to identify precursor earthquakes that may provide an indication for days to minutes of warning. However, even today, most of our clues come from long-term forecasting, which is based on when and where earthquakes have previously occurred. This allows us to make very loose predictions about when highly active faults, like the San Andreas, are overdue for a massive earthquake.