What Is an Earthquake?

An earthquake is an intense shaking of Earth’s surface. The shaking is caused by movements in

Earth’s outermost layer.

Why Do Earthquakes Happen?

Although the Earth looks like a pretty solid place from the surface, it’s actually extremely active
just below the surface. The Earth is made of four basic layers: a solid crust, a hot, nearly solid
mantle, a liquid outer core and a solid inner core.

A diagram of Earth's layers. Earthquakes are caused by shifts in the outer layers of Earth—a region
called the lithosphere.

The solid crust and top, stiff layer of the mantle make up a region called the lithosphere. The
lithosphere isn’t a continuous piece that wraps around the whole Earth like an eggshell. It’s
actually made up of giant puzzle pieces called tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are constantly
shifting as they drift around on the viscous, or slowly flowing, mantle layer below.
Earth's crust is fractured into tectonic plates that have been moving very slowly over the Earth's
surface for millions of years. Credit: USGS

This non-stop movement causes stress on Earth’s crust. When the stresses get too large, it leads to
cracks called faults. When tectonic plates move, it also causes movements at the faults.
An earthquake is the sudden movement of Earth’s crust at a fault line.
This photograph shows the San Andreas Fault, a 750-mile-long fault in California. Credit: Public
Domain

The location where an earthquake begins is called the epicenter. An earthquake’s most intense
shaking is often felt near the epicenter. However, the vibrations from an earthquake can still be
felt and detected hundreds, or even thousands of miles away from the epicenter.

How Do We Measure Earthquakes?

The energy from an earthquake travels through Earth in vibrations called seismic waves. Scientists
can measure these seismic waves on instruments called seismometer. A seismometer detects
seismic waves below the instrument and records them as a series of zig-zags.

Scientists can determine the time, location and intensity of an earthquake from the information
recorded by a seismometer. This record also provides information about the rocks the seismic
waves traveled through.
A seismometer records seismic waves as a series of zig-zags. Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Z22,
CC BY-SA 3.0

Do Earthquakes Only Happen on Earth?

Earthquake is a name for seismic activity on Earth, but Earth isn’t the only place with seismic
activity. Scientists have measured quakes on the Earth’s moon, and see evidence for seismic
activity on Mars, Venus and several moons of Jupiter, too!

NASA’s InSight mission will carry a seismometer to Mars to study seismic activity there, known as
marsquakes. On Earth, we know that different materials vibrate in different ways. By studying the
vibrations from marsquakes, scientists hope to figure out what materials are found on the inside
of Mars.
An artist's illustration of the Mars InSight lander operating on the surface of Mars. Credit: NASA-
JPL/Caltech

InSight will collect tons of information about what Mars is like under the surface. These new
discoveries will help us understand more about how planets like Mars—and our home, Earth—
came to be