Earthquakes

Chloe Aylmer 8C

An earthquake is a disturbance that can be disruptive and can have serious or small effects. It is caused by the movements of the Earth's plates (tectonic plates). There are 17 plates in total and the three biggest ones are: The Eurasian Plate

The North America plate

The Antarctic Plate

Earthquakes are measured using the Richter scale (look on the next page).

What is an earthquake?

The Richter ScaleThe richter scale goes from 0-?. It can go as high as it needs to go but

it each level is ten time times stronger than the next. The highest

Recorded level on the richter scale isThe 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake (Spanish: Gran terremoto de Valdivia) of 22 May 1960 is to date the most powerful earthquake everrecorded, rating 9.5 on the richter scale.

Why do earthquakes happen?Earthquakes happen because of the movement of the earth's plates. The plates move in different directions so some countries which are on the border of the plates are worse effected than others. For example some countries are worse effected than others.

The earthquake in chile

questions

• Include a map of countries• what hazards can be caused by earthquakes?• How and why do these hazards cause damage?• Why do these hazards have different impacts

on different people?• Do earthquakes kill people?You need to describe the damage and impact of at least three earthquakes. For each one you should include a map.