What Is An Earthquake Essay

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INTRODUCTION Imagine you were at home, doing your homework, when the ground started to shake. You don’t know what’s happening. Suddenly, the shaking stops. You look outside and there are cracks in the road, and crumbling buildings. You had just survived an earthquake. This essay will answer the question: Why and how do earthquakes happen? Keep reading to learn more about what earthquakes are, tectonic plates, earthquakes around the world, the San Francisco earthquake 1989, predicting & preventing earthquakes. What Is An Earthquake If you don’t know already, an earthquake is a natural disaster. During an earthquake, the ground shakes and rolls, like the waves of the ocean. On top of that, some earthquakes can be really destructive. Buildings can get knocked down, fires can start, the street can open and close, …show more content…

One idea would be to “grease” the faults, to make the earth move smoothly. Another idea is to make earthquake control wells. Whenever any fluid enters the well, a tiny earthquake happens, taking pressure off the fault. The best method is to not build big cities near or on top of faults. But if they already are, make sure the buildings can sustain large earthquakes. Conclusion In this essay, you learned about what earthquakes are, tectonic plates, some powerful earthquakes around the world, the San Francisco earthquake 1989, predicting and preventing earthquakes. Thank you for reading! GLOSSARY Earthquakes: A destructive natural disaster that makes the ground shake Tectonic Plates: Pieces of the earth’s crust, whose interaction can cause earthquakes Relatively: In comparison with____________. Pressure: The force “exerted on or against an object” Method: A specific way of doing something Chain Reaction: A series of events, in which each happened because of the thing befor it BIBLIOGRAPHY Lampton, Christopher, Earthquake: A Disaster! Book, BrookField CT, The Millbrook

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