Earthquake
Earthquakes have been around for as long as the planet and have plagued humans throughout history. With no warning, major earthquakes strike populated areas of the world every year, killing hundreds, injuring thousands, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Yet despite millions of dollars and decades of research, seismologists (scientists who study earthquakes) are still unable to predict precisely when and where an earthquake will happen.
An earthquake is a geological event in which rock masses below the surface of the earth suddenly shift, releasing energy and sending out strong vibrations to the surface. Most earthquakes are caused by movement along a fault line, which is a fracture in the earth's crust. Thousands of earthquakes happen each day around the world, but most are too small to be felt.
Earth is covered by a crust of rock that is broken into numerous plates. The plates float on a layer of molten (liquid) rock within the earth called the mantel. This molten rock moves and flows, and this movement is thought to cause the shifting of the plates. When plates move, they either slide past, bump into, overrun, or pull away from each other. The movement of plates is called plate tectonics.
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