What is Earthquakes?

Earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the

perceptible shaking of the surface of the Earth, which can be violent
enough to destroy major buildings and kill thousands of people. The
severity of the shaking can range from barely felt to violent enough to
toss people around. Earthquakes have destroyed whole cities.

Earthquakes are the vibrations caused by rocks breaking under

stress.The underground surface along which the rock breaks and
moves is called a fault plane.
An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates
are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction.
When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake
that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause
the shaking that we feel.

E A RT H Q UA K E S

Types of earthquakes
There are four different types of earthquakes: Tectonic,
volcanic, collapse and explosion.
1. Tectonic earthquake is one that occurs when the earth's crust breaks
due to geological forces on rocks and adjoining plates that cause
physical and chemical changes.

2. Volcanic earthquake is any earthquake that results from tectonic forces

which occur in conjunction with volcanic activity.

3. Collapse earthquake are small earthquakes in underground caverns and

mines that are caused by seismic waves produced from the explosion of
rock on the surface.

4. Explosion earthquake is an earthquake that is the result of the

detonation of a nuclear and/or chemical device.

Why do earthquakes happen?

Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground
suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy
causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. When two
blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they
stick a little. They don't just slide smoothly; the rocks catch on each
other. The rocks are still pushing against each other, but not moving.
After a while, the rocks break because of all the pressure that's built
up. When the rocks break, the earthquake occurs. During the
earthquake and afterward, the plates or blocks of rock start moving,
and they continue to move until they get stuck again. The spot
underground where the rock breaks is called the focus of the
earthquake. The place right above the focus (on top of the ground) is
called the epicenter of the earthquake.

HOW TO SURVIVE IN
EARTHQUAKE?

TSUNAMI

What is Tsunami?
Tsunami is a Japanese word with the English translation,
"harbor wave." "tsu," means harbor, while the bottom
character, "nami," means "wave." In the past, tsunamis were
sometimes referred to as "tidal waves" by the general public,
and as "seismic sea waves" by the scientific community. The
term "tidal wave" is a misnomer; although a tsunami's impact
upon a coastline is dependent upon the tidal level at the time
a tsunami strikes, tsunamis are unrelated to the tides. Tides
result from the imbalanced, extraterrestrial, gravitational
influences of the moon, sun, and planets. The term "seismic
sea wave" is also misleading. "Seismic" implies an
earthquake-related generation mechanism, but a tsunami can
also be caused by a nonseismic event, such as a landslide or
meteorite impact.
A tsunami is a series of great sea waves caused by an under
earthquake , landslide, or volcanic eruption. More rarely, a

TSUNAMI PICTURES

How Earthquakes Cause

Tsunamis?
The illustration below shows a
subduction earthquake (one where
a denser plates shifts below its
neighboring plate, at left). Energy is
transferred and the displaced water
forms a wave. As the wave travels
and enters shallower water in the
coastal area, it begins to increase in

How Landslides Cause

Tsunamis
Landslides are similar to volcanoes that
avalanche into the sea. They occur in the
water and often are triggered by
earthquakes. There is an instance in 1958
where a tsunami was caused by rockfall in
Lituya Bay, Alaska. In this instance, a
gigantic boulder was loosed by an
earthquake and fell into the bay causing a
tsunami that went out to sea.

How Volcanoes Cause

Tsunamis
There are two different ways that volcanoes can
cause seismic waves. One possibility is for a
land-based volcano to break down and
collapse, forcing large amounts of ash and
debris into the water. This sudden change and
displacement of the water column transfers to
kinetic energy and results in waves. More
debris can create a bigger increase in wave