Earthquake
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
In an earthquake the ground moves. Earthquakes commonly last for a few seconds, but there are small shakes afterwards for a few days.
There are big earthquakes and small earthquakes. Big earthquakes can damage buildings and will often hurt people very badly so that they die.
When the earth moves in an earthquake, it can cause waves in the ocean. A big wave in the ocean caused by an earthquake is called a "tsunami".[1] A tsunami can also hurt people so that they die, and damage buildings.
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[change] Earthquake Measuring
The size of an earthquake can be measured in cacastainols. A number is given to an earthquake that shows the size of the earthquake.
Methods for turning the magnitude of the earthquake on the epicenter, which is above the focus into a number include the Richter scale and the Modified Mercalli scale.
[change] Cause of earthquakes
The surface of the Earth is divided into pieces called "tectonic plates". These plates move. When the plates rub against each other, they do not move smoothly. When the plates do not move smoothly, earthquakes result.
Some parts of the world get more earthquakes than other parts. The parts of the earth that get most earthquakes are near the edges of these plates.
Earthquakes send sound waves through the earth. Places many kilometers from the edge of the plates can receive these earthquake waves.
[change] Earthquake-proofing
Some countries, such as Japan or parts of a country like California in the United States, are in areas where earthquakes happen many times. In these places it is a good practice to build houses and other buildings so they will not fall down when there is an earthquake. This is called seismic design or "earthquake-proofing".
For many years earthquakes have happened. That is why there are earthquake proof buildings. The ability of a building to withstand the stress of an earthquake depends upon its type of construction, shape, mass distribution, and rigidity. Different combinations are used. Different shapes of buildings such a square rectangular and shell buildings can withstand earthquakes much better than really, really, really tall buildings. To reduce stress, a building's ground floor can be supported by extremely rigid, hollow columns, while the rest of the building is supported by flexible columns located inside the hollow columns. A different method is to use rollers or rubber pads to separate the base columns from the ground, allowing the columns to shake parallel during an earthquake. To help prevent a roof from collapsing you can make your roof out of light-weight materials. Outdoor walls can be made with stronger and more reinforced materials such as steel or reinforced concrete. During an earthquake flexible windows may help that can hold the windows together so they don’t break.
[change] Notes
- ↑ Another name for a tsunami is a tidal wave, although this name is out of date.
[change] See also
A tsunami can sometimes be refered to as a "tidal wave" however, this term is incorrect. They are two different things.
