Science and Technology

What is an Earthquake?

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor, or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of
energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.  At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest
themselves by shaking and sometimes displacing the ground.  Any activity within the earth that
creates vibrations can be called an earthquake, whether it's a natural phenomenon or an event
caused by humans — something that generates seismic waves.  Earthquakes are caused mostly by
the rupture of geological faults, but also by volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear
experiments.  Earthquakes send waves through the earth and this means that places many miles
from the centre of an earthquake can be affected by these waves.

Measuring an Earthquake

The size of an earthquake can be measured with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph.  The
measurements can be recorded using the Richter scale or the Modified Mercalli scale.  These
methods use numbers to represent the size of earthquakes, from 1 to 10.

Seismic stations watch for earthquakes, the number of stations has increased from about 350 in 1931
to many thousands today. As a result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past, mainly
because of the vast improvement in instrumentation, rather than any increase in the number of
earthquakes.

What Causes an Earthquake?

The surface of the Earth is divided into pieces called "tectonic plates". These plates move, and where
tectonic plates meet it is called a fault. When the plates rub against each other along a fault, they
usually do so smoothly, but when these plates do not move smoothly, earthquakes result.  In some
parts of the world earthquakes occur near the edges of these plates.

Earthquakes can also be induced.   Four main activities contribute: constructing large dams and
buildings, drilling and injecting liquid into wells, and coal mining or oil drilling.  Perhaps the best
known example is the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China's Sichuan Province; this tremor resulted in
69,227 fatalities and is the 19th deadliest earthquake of all time. The largest earthquake in Australia's
history was also induced by humanity, through coal mining. The city of Newcastle was built over a
large sector of coal mining areas.  The earthquake was spawned from a fault which reactivated due
to the millions of tonnes of rock removed in the mining process.
The Size and Frequency of Earthquakes

Minor earthquakes occur nearly constantly around the world in places like California and Alaska in
the U.S., as well as in Guatemala. Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, the Azores in Portugal,
Turkey, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, and Japan, but earthquakes can occur almost anywhere,
including New York City, London, and Australia.  Larger earthquakes occur less frequently, the
relationship being exponential; for example, roughly ten times as many earthquakes larger than
magnitude 4 occur in a particular time period than earthquakes larger than magnitude 5.

The USGS estimates that, since 1900, there have been an average of 18 major earthquakes
(magnitude 7.0-7.9) and one great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per year, and that this
average has been relatively stable.  In recent years, the number of major earthquakes per year has
decreased, although this is thought likely to be a statistical fluctuation rather than a systematic trend.

Effects of Earthquakes

Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in
more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures.

Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of the
fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground rupture
is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power stations and
requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any likely to break the ground surface within
the life of the structure.

Earthquakes, can produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard. Landslide
danger may persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.

Earthquakes can also cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water
mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it
has started. For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were caused by fire
than by the earthquake.

Earthquakes can cause tsunamis that can travel 600-800 kilometers per hour, depending on water
depth. Large waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal
areas in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across open ocean
and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.  Most
destructive tsunamis are caused by earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.

Flooding can be a secondary effect of earthquakes which may cause dams to collapse, or landslips
that dam rivers.

Other secondary effects of earthquakes are disease, lack of basic necessities, higher insurance
premiums, road and bridge damage, and collapse or destabilization (potentially leading to future
collapse) of buildings.

Earthquakes can also precede volcanic eruptions, which cause further problems; for example,
substantial crop damage, as in the "Year Without a Summer" (1816).