How do earthquakes happen- - World Vision emergencies

The Earth is covered in tectonic plates that slowly move around its surface most of the time we don't feel it The places where they measure are called fault lines and there's where most of the earthquakes happen. the edges of the faults rub and sometimes get stuck together there is then a build up of energy as the plates continue trying to move. or come under pressure from other plates when it becomes too great, the plates suddenly slick releasing energy in seismic waves that shake the Earth as they move through it Earthquakes are recorded by sensitive instruments and measured on the Richter scale It's an exponential scale which means every number up is a tenfold increase in the size of the earthquake. Earthquakes that measure up to about 4 Or with epicenter At six, some buildings are generally damaged depending on the quality of contruction and how they the Earth The earthquakes originators. Quakes close to the surface produce more damaging energy waves that even earthquakes of this size can be devastating The one that strucked Christchurch in New Zealand measured 6.3 but killed nearly 200 people In the sevens, buildings can separate from their foundations Underground pipes may be broken and there will be visible cracks in the Earth A magnitude-seven earthquake caused the death of about 220,000 people When strucked Haiti in 2010. An earthquake measuring nine or more on the Richter Scale would make almost total devastation and the energy waves would be visible as they moved through the Earth The earthquake behind the Boxing Day tsunami measured 9.1 and it was a magnitude-9 that devastated part of Japan in 2011 Unfortunately, natural disasters are out of our control but what we can do is put money aside to ensure there's a piggy bank ready to go in an emergency