Earthquakes from the beginning.

We all learned the basics of earthquakes when we were younger, but when an actual earthquake hits in our area do we really know what is happening? There are a wide variety of terms and facts that can help us understand earthquakes better. Earthquakes are known to strike at sudden moments and at anytime of the day or year. They can be violent, which often times leads to injuries of civilians in direct impact of the earthquake or in nearby cities and towns (U.S Department of, 2010). Out of all the states in America, Alaska is the most earthquake-prone, experiencing at least one earthquake almost every year. ( U.S Department of, 2009). Earthquakes are known all the world and effect humans in different ways every time. An earthquake that happens in central America may not have the same effects as an earthquake in Asia, they might not even have originated from the same incident but regardless of the damage they are still a serious matter. 

Earthquakes are quick to happen and occur when there is a shifting or breaking of rock beneath the earths surface. On the surface, to the human eye, the gradual sliding of the plates beneath the surface are unnoticeable, but when the rock begins to shift and build up tension is when the earthquake occurs. Seismic waves are produced and can be felt from hundreds of miles away from where the earthquake originated. As the seismic waves are felt a seismograph records the magnitude of the seismic waves and assigns a magnitude to the earthquake. An earthquake with a magnitude of eight or more is considered to have great impact on the surface, a magnitude of seven to eight is considered a major earthquake, five to seven is considered a moderate to strong earthquake, and a quake measuring three to five is considered minor. These measurements are called the Richter Scale, which was developed by Charles F. Richter in 1935. The scale measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake. Even the quakes that are minor can be read by seismographs. Every year, somewhere on our planet, around 10,000 people die just from earthquakes. Deaths are normally caused from collapsing buildings and homes. Other causes of causes of death result from mudslides, fires, floods and even tsunamis. ( "Earthquakes seismic destruction", 2011).

The first recorded earthquake was in 1769. It came from California about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles. California is known to experience the most damaging earthquakes. Also in California, specifically in San Francisco, there was an earthquake which caused a fire where the fire actually caused more damage than the earthquake itself. Even though it may seem like California has the most quakes, it actually turns out that Alaska is the state that experiences the most quakes in the United States. Outside the States there was an earthquake in Chile which actually shook the entire earth in 1960 for many days. This event became known as the free oscillation of the earth.(U.S Department of, 2009). Basically, earthquakes can affect any living organism all over the world and can cause great damage, even if you think you might be far enough away from the center of the quake. Education of earthquakes, construction of buildings that will not break under seismic waves, and emergency planning can help lower the amount of deaths that earthquakes cause every year. Whether it is a quake in California or China there are ways that we can reduce the amount of damage the quake can cause. 

U.S Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). Fast facts about earthquakes Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/facts.shtm 

(U.S Department of, 2010) 

U.S Department of the Interior, U.S Geological Survey. (2009). Earthquake Facts EHP web team. Retrieved from

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/facts.php 

(U.S Department of, 2009)

Earthquakes seismic destruction. (2010). National Geographic, Retrieved from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/earthquake-profile/?source=A-to-Z

("Earthquakes seismic destruction", 2011)