Chapter 10 — Science & Nature
What causes earthquakes?
Earth's crust is broken into plates that move a few centimetres a year. Where they lock at a fault, stress builds until the rock fails and slips suddenly — that release of energy is the earthquake.
Follow-up questions
Can earthquakes be predicted?
Not with useful precision. Scientists can give long-term probabilities for a region but cannot forecast a specific date, and early-warning systems only give seconds of notice after rupture starts.
What does the magnitude scale mean?
It's logarithmic: each whole number is about 32 times more energy. A magnitude 7 releases roughly 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.
What should I do during an earthquake?
Drop, cover, and hold on under sturdy furniture away from windows. Doorways are not safer in modern buildings, and running outside during shaking is more dangerous.
Why do aftershocks happen?
The main slip redistributes stress onto neighbouring parts of the fault, which then fail in smaller ruptures — sometimes for months afterwards.
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