An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude jolted Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region at 5:07 am on Saturday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
So what are Earthquakes? Why do they happen? Why certain places are so earthquake prone?
Our earth’s surface is made up of rocks/plates. An Earthquake is a sudden, rapid shaking of the earth caused by the breaking and shifting of rocks/plates beneath the earth surface. The shaking could last for seconds or minutes.
Imagine earth like a big puzzle where puzzle pieces are made up earth plates and the gaps between all the puzzle pieces correspond to plate boundaries called ‘fault’ line . Earthquakes always happen along plate boundaries. Unfortunately, areas that are situated more directly on or near a ‘fault’ line are more prone to earthquakes. Indonesia, Japan, USA, Chile are some such areas.
How severe or mild an earthquake is, is measured on a scale of one to ten. Anymore than 8 is considered as a severe earthquake. Severe Earthquakes on land can make houses and tall weak buildings collapse, roads break, cars crash, trees fall and many other things.
Rishabh goel
July 1, 2012
How long did the earthquake go on?
kinooze
July 1, 2012
A bunch of tourists reported that the earthquake went on for more than 20 seconds. The numbers may vary a bit.