Science Experiments | Earthquakes - Introduction

Introduction

According to the ancient Greeks, earthquakesAn unpredictable event in which masses of rock suddenly shift or rupture below Earth's surface, releasing enormous amounts of energy and sending out shockwaves that sometimes cause the ground to shake dramatically. occurred when the god Atlas shifted the weight of the world from one shoulder to the other. Other cultures believed that earthquakes were a sign of punishment. We now know that earthquakes are the shaking or trembling of the earth caused by underground shock waves or vibrations. Believe it or not, over a million earthquakes take place each year. Sometimes the trembling and shaking is gentle and hardly noticeable. Other times the motion is much more violent, causing cracks in the surface of the earth.