Earthquakes: What are they and what
causes them to happen?
Mrs. Hornsby’s Fifth Grade Class
What is an Earthquake?
An earthquake is a shaking of the ground caused
by a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s
crust. More than a million of them occur each
year! However, most are too small to be felt or to
cause damage. Click the picture below to watch a
video about earthquakes.
What are Earth’s Layers?
The Earth’s crust is the outer
layer and is made of rock. It is
Outer Inner very thin compared to the
core Core other layers.
The mantle is the very hot
layer of rock beneath the
crust. No one has ever been to
the mantle, but rock from the
mantle sometimes reaches the
Earth’s surface through
volcanoes.
The outer core is made of
liquid, or molten iron.
The inner core is made of solid
iron. Even though the core is
the hottest layer, great
Mantle Crust pressure at the center of the
Earth keeps the inner core
solid.
What are Plate
Tectonics?
Earth’s surface is made up
of many plates that float
on the soft rock of the
mantle. As the mantle
moves, the plates also
move.
Plates move only a few
centimeters each year.
When one plate moves, it
affects the other plates.
As plates move around,
they cause great changes
in the Earth’s surface,
such as mountains,
valleys, volcanoes, and
earthquakes!
What Happens When Plates
Move?
Plate Tectonics
Convergent Plate Divergent Plate Transform
Boundaries Boundaries Boundaries
plates crunch
plates pull apart and plates slide past
together and release
energy
new crust is formed each other
mountains develop, valleys and volcanoes
volcanoes erupt, and develop, earthquakes Lots of earthquakes!
earthquakes can happen can occur
Types of Boundaries
What is a Fault?
Many earthquakes occur along
faults in the Earth’s crust. A fault is
a place where pieces of the plates
move.
A normal fault is where tension
weakens the crust until the rock
fractures, and one rock moves
downward from another. This
occurs when two plates are pulling
apart, as in a divergent boundary.
A strike-slip fault is where two
blocks of rock are moving past
each other horizontally, as in a
transform boundary. The famous
San Andreas Fault is a strike-slip
fault.
A Reverse fault is where a fault
block is forced upward, usually
during a collision with another
block, as in a convergent boundary.
What Happens When an
Earthquake Starts?
The sudden release of energy from
an earthquake sends out several
different shaking movements, or
seismic waves.
Surface waves are ripples of energy
that spread outward when rocks slip
past each other along a fault, just
like throwing a stone into a calm
pond.
Body waves are seismic waves that
travel through material rather than
over its surface. There are two types
of body waves: P-waves and S-
waves.
The P-wave is also known as the
sound wave. It travels through the
interior of the Earth rather than
over the surface as a series of
squeezes and stretches. P-waves
reach everywhere around the Earth
after about 20 minutes.
The S-wave, or shear wave,
produces a shaking motion, like if
you tied a rope to a poll and shook
the other end side to side. S-waves
can only travel in solid material.
How are Earthquakes
Measured?
Earthquakes are measured by
instruments called seismographs. It
has a base that sets firmly in the
ground, and a heavy weight that
hangs free. When an earthquake
causes the ground to shake, the
base of the seismograph shakes
too, but the heavy weight does not.
The spring that it is hanging from
absorbs all the movement. The
seismograph records the difference
in position between the shaking
part and the motionless part.
The recording is called a
seismogram. It is used to
determine how large the
earthquake was. A short wiggly line
that wiggles very little means a
small earthquake. A long wiggly
line that wiggles a lot means a
large earthquake.
The Richter Magnitude Scale
Richter
Description Magnitudes Earthquake Effects
Less than 2.0 Microearthquakes, not felt.
Micro
2.0-2.9 Usually not felt, but recorded.
Very Minor
3.0-3.9 Often felt, but rarely causes
Minor damage.
4.0-4.9 Noticeable shaking of indoor items,
Light rattling noises. Significant damage
unlikely.
5.0-5.9 Can cause major damage to poorly
constructed buildings over small
Moderate regions. Slight damage to well-
designed buildings.
6.0-6.9 Can be destructive in areas up to
Strong about 100 miles across in populated
areas.
7.0-7.9 Can cause serious damage over
Major larger areas.
8.0-8.9 Can cause serious damage in areas
Great several hundred miles across.
9.0 or greater Devastating in areas several
Rare Great thousand miles across.
How Do Scientists Know
Where an Earthquake Has
Happened?
The location below the Earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is
called the hypocenter.
The location directly above the hypocenter on the Earth’s surface is called
the epicenter.
It take three seismographs to locate an earthquake. Scientists draw a circle
on a map around the three seismographs where the radius of each is the
distance from the station to the earthquake, the intersection of those three
circles is the epicenter.
How Long Does an Earthquake
Last?
Sometimes an earthquake
has foreshocks. These are
smaller earthquakes that
happen in the same place as
the larger earthquake.
The largest, main
earthquake is called the
mainshock.
Mainshocks always have
aftershocks that follow.
These are smaller
earthquakes that occur
afterwards in the same
place as the mainshock.
Depending on the size of the
mainshock, aftershocks can
continue for weeks, months,
or even years after the
mainshock!
Famous Earthquakes Around the
World
San Francisco, California: April 18, 1906
(Magnitude: About 8)
Tokyo, Japan: September 1, 1923
(Magnitude: about 8.25)
Chile: May 22, 1960
(Magnitude: About 9)
Anchorage, Alaska: March 27, 1964
(Magnitude: About 8.5)
How Many Earthquakes
Happen Each Year?
1,000,000
Number of Earthquakes
100,000
10,000
1,000
100
10
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Magnitude of Earthquakes
Where do Earthquakes Occur
Most Often in the United
States?
1 1
1
1 Alaska
C alifornia
3 11 Missouri
Haw aii
Nevada
Montana
Idaho
7
Top 25 Earthquakes in the
United States (Percentage)
4%
4%
4%
4% Alaska
C alifornia
12% 44% Missouri
Haw aii
Nevada
Montana
Idaho
28%
Earthquake Damage
What Have You Learned?
Click Here
To review the Brain
Pop video and take
the quiz!
Click Here
To test your
knowledge
about
earthquake
vocabulary!
References
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
earthquakes/
[Link]
[Link]
Earthquake Statistics
The Largest Earthquakes in the United States
[Link]
“Mountains, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes” Harcourt
Earth Science Grade 5, p. C14.
