EARTHQUAKE

since records
began.
Intensity of
shaking is
An earthquake (also known as a quake,
measured on
tremor or temblor) is the perceptible
the modified
shaking of the surface of the Earth, which
Mercalli
can be violent enough to destroy major
scale. The
buildings and kill thousands of people.
shallower an
The severity of the shaking can range
earthquake,
from barely felt to violent enough to toss
the more
people around. Earthquakes have
damage to
destroyed whole cities. They result from
structures it causes, all else being equal.
the sudden release of energy in the
Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.
The seismicity, seismism or seismic
activity of an area refers to the
frequency, type and size of earthquakes
At the Earth's surface,
experienced over a period of time.
earthquakes manifest
themselves by shaking and
sometimes displacement of the
Earthquakes are measured using
ground. When the epicenter of a
observations from seismometers. The
large earthquake is located
moment magnitude is the most common
offshore, the seabed may be
scale on which earthquakes larger than
displaced sufficiently to cause a
approximately 5 are reported for the
tsunami. Earthquakes can also
entire globe. The more numerous
trigger landslides, and
earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5
occasionally volcanic activity.
reported by national seismological
observatories are measured mostly on
the local magnitude scale, also referred
In its most general sense, the
to as the Richter magnitude scale. These
word earthquake is used to
two scales are numerically similar over
describe any seismic event
their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or
whether natural or caused by
lower earthquakes are mostly almost
humans that generates
imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7
seismic waves. Earthquakes are
and over potentially cause serious
caused mostly by rupture of
damage over larger areas, depending on
geological faults, but also by
their depth. The largest earthquakes in
other events such as volcanic
historic times have been of magnitude
activity, landslides, mine blasts,
slightly over 9, although there is no limit
and nuclear tests. An
to the possible magnitude. The most
earthquake's point of initial
recent large earthquake of magnitude 9.0
rupture is called its focus or
or larger was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake
hypocenter. The epicenter is the
in Japan in 2011 (as of March 2014), and
it was the largest Japanese earthquake

point at ground level directly

above the hypocenter.