Our planet is very unique among all other planets present in our Solar system. Our planet Earth is enriched with all things that are necessary for life. Over millions of years of evolution, the earth has become a beautiful and better place to live on. But in this journey of evolution, there were many earthquakes which changed the shape of the earth. Continuous earthquakes are the main reason for the formation and development of big mountains.
What is an earthquake and how it occurs?
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| Earthquake formation process |
An earthquake occurs when tectonic plates collapse with each other which releases large of amount of energy causing shaking of the surfaces which are above these plates. The amount of energy released depends upon the amount of striking force. The more forcefully these plates strike the more energy is released and this shakes the crust surface.
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| Plates sliding over each other causing formation of mountains |
Tectonic plates are moving parts which are on magma (high-temperature lava). When tectonic plates move away from each other, magma fills the space which was between these plates and gets solidified.
Earthquakes can range in size from those that are too weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to toss people around and destroy whole cities. The initial point of an earthquake is called hypocenter and epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.
How earthquake is measured?
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| seismograph working during an earthquake |
A seismograph is a device that scientists use to measure earthquakes. The main motive of a seismograph is to accurately record the motion of the ground during a quake. If you live in a city, you may have noticed that buildings sometimes shake when a big truck or a subway train passes nearby. Good seismographs are therefore isolated and connected to bedrock to prevent them from these shocks. In a seismograph, levers or electronics are used to magnify the signal so that very small tremors are detectable.
The Richter scale is a standard scale used to compare earthquakes. On the Richter scale, anything below 2.0 is undetectable to a normal person and is called a microquake. The biggest earthquake in the world since 1900 scored a 9.5 on the Richter scale. It rocked Chile on May 22, 1960.
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