The scientists (Seismologists) who study earthquakes, estimate that several million earthquakes occur each year. Only a handful cause major damage. Here are fast 10 facts on Earthquakes that why they occur, how they are measured and the types of damage they can cause.
1. Earthquake: shaking and trembling at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane of from volcanic activity. An earthquake is a vibration or a shaking movement of the Earth’s surface. Earthquakes typically result from the movement of faults, quasi-planar zones of deformation within its uppermost layers.
2. Earthquakes can’t be prevented, but they can be mitigated.
3. Hypocenter is the point where the earthquake rupture begins, usually deep down on the fault.
4. Epicenter is the point on the surface directly above the hypocenter.
5. The Circum-Pacific belt is the zone in Pacific Ocean where about 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur.
6. The world’s deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1557 in central China (more than 830000 people were killed).
7. The Richter Scale is used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes, as determined by seismograph measurements of the height of ground oscillations during an earthquake. The Richter scale has no upper limit.
8. The Modified Mercalli Scale measures the intensity of an earthquake; it’s scale based on observable earthquake damage. This scale is composed of 12 increasing levels of intensity
9. Seismograph are device that detects and records the vibrations of an earthquake.
10. Most viewed video about earthquake at Youtube is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__r5J3ODNx0
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