An earthquake is a shaking of a part of the earth’s surface, often causing great damage. (merriam webster.com) Earthquakes kill approximately 8,000 people each year. An average earthquake only lasts about one minute. (Randomhistory.com) Earthquakes are important and relevant because of the lives they take and the damage they cause.
On 1960, May 22 the strongest earthquake hit off the southern coast of Chile. At a magnitude of 9.5 it left approximately 2 million people homeless. (Britannica.com) About 1,655 Chilean people were killed. (kids-fun-science.com) The great Chilean earthquake caused $550 million in damage in southern Chile. (Earthquake.usgs.gov) This earthquake was caused by the South American and Nazca plates colliding.(People.uwec.edu) The Chilean earthquake was a huge disaster and everyone hopes nothing like this will happen again.
Earthquakes are a huge threat to
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Some of it dives into the earth’s interior others thrust upwards this leads to an earthquake. Huge movements cause earth to release lots of energy. Some of the energy takes the form of shock waves, called seismic waves. Shocks radiate from the center of the earthquake. Seismic waves can cause violent shaking. There are two different types of Seismic waves: Body and Surface waves. Body waves you won’t feel. Surface waves you’ll feel rolling or swaying motion. (scholastic.com) What causes an earthquake may play a role in what type of earthquake it is. There are four different types of earthquakes. The first one is when two tectonic plates push up together creating a mountain. The second one is when one tectonic plate goes underneath the other one. The third is when both plates pull apart from each other. The last one is when two tectonic plates push against each other than ultimately side swipe. (Winchester 16-17) All these earthquakes can vary in size and there are ways to measure