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Earthquake Essay | Essay on Earthquake for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Earthquake Essay: Earthquake Essay is an important topic for students to learn about. It educates the students about what an earthquake is and its repercussions. From a geological perspective, earthquakes (Magnitude 2 and smaller) occur several hundred times a day worldwide. These earthquakes occur in very remote places and its aftereffects are nearly imperceptible. Earthquakes that are larger and more destructive (Magnitude 8 and bigger) occur with lesser frequency; typically once or twice per year.

Usually, some places are more prone to earthquakes than others. These places are often located on the intersection between tectonic plates – gigantic plates that glide over the earth’s mantle. When two of these plates grind against each other, earthquakes occur. Depending on the location of the earthquake, it can cause a lot of damage, either through tsunamis, landslides, avalanches, mudslides, or ground displacement. These can cause serious damages to life and property; it can even cripple an entire economy if the magnitude is high enough. Read on to explore more about earthquakes.

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Most of us are familiar with the concept of earthquakes and the dangers they pose to us. However, not everyone knows the exact definition nor its probable causes.

What is an Earthquake?

An Earthquake is defined as a phenomenon where tectonic plates slip past one another, creating seismic waves that travel through the earth’s rocks. Depending on the intensity of the earthquakes, the effects can vary from minor structural damages to buildings to complete collapse, resulting in loss of life and property. Sometimes, when an earthquake originates from the middle of the ocean, it can cause extremely large and destructive waves called tsunamis. However, an earthquake does not directly pose danger to a person; in other words, people cannot be shaken to death by an earthquake.

Understanding the Cause of Earthquakes

Now that we know what is an earthquake, we shall explore how it is caused. The earth is made up of four layers – the inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. The mantle and the crust essentially behave as a very thin layer of shell on our planet’s surface. However, this shell is not composed of one single piece; there are several pieces that exist under the earth, each slowly sliding past one another. These pieces are called the tectonic plates. There are in fact seven tectonic plates that are found under the earth’s crust:

• African plate
• Antarctic plate
• Eurasian plate
• Indo-Australian plate
• North American plate
• Pacific plate
• South American plate

Moreover, these plates are never static, they always keep moving. Over the earth’s history, tectonic plates have merged with other plates to form even larger plates. Other tectonic plates have drifted into smaller plates and some have been even pushed under other plates (subduction). This is one of the biggest reasons why we had supercontinents in the past, and their eventual breakup into the seven continents that we know today.

When two or more tectonic plates meet, the area usually becomes a hotspot for earthquakes. The actual event is caused when these plates start slipping past one another, creating energy in the form of seismic waves. Depending on the location and magnitude, these seismic waves have the potential to absolutely decimate buildings and natural ecosystems. The area where these earthquakes are known to occur is called the geologic faults.

Where do Earthquakes Occur?

Earthquakes can occur anywhere on earth, however, it occurs in more frequency where two tectonic plates meet, especially along the fault lines. The length of fault lines varies between a few meters to hundreds of kilometres. Most of the world’s earthquakes occur in a place called the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Ocean. The Belt traces boundaries between many tectonic plates, as a result, there is a lot of movement. This consequently makes it geologically active and is considered a very “violent” place from a seismological perspective. Moreover, there are many underwater active volcanoes that line these boundaries, hence the name: Ring of Fire.

How is Earthquake Measured

Earthquakes are measured using a unit called Magnitude. The instrument that measures these units is called seismographs. However, scientists often prefer to use the Moment Magnitude Scale over the magnitude scale is often

Effects of Earthquakes

As stated before, earthquakes do not directly cause harm to humans. However, earthquakes can cause substantial damages to property. One of the most prominent dangers is ground displacement. Any buildings along the fault can collapse, thereby causing injury or death to humans. The effect of ground shaking as a result of seismic waves can also impact the structural integrity of buildings. Roads and bridges may not be traversable due to the damage caused.

Earthquakes also cause an event called liquefaction. This occurs when sand or soil becomes very soft when it gets mixed with groundwater. When liquefaction occurs under a building, it can cause it to tip over, sink several feet, thereby rendering the building a hazard.

Earthquakes can also cause flooding. When earthquakes rupture damns or embankments along a river, water would then flood the area, damaging property and drowning people. When earthquakes occur under the ocean, huge waves called Tsunamis can occur. These waves are extremely destructive and can destroy anything in its wake. Interestingly, when earthquakes occur near lakes, they can cause an event similar to a tsunami, but smaller in scale – it is called Seiches. They are usually only a few feet high, but they are powerful enough to flood property and cause damage.

Can we Predict Earthquakes?

Earthquakes can never be predicted with current technology. However, we can calculate the probability of an earthquake occurring in specific areas (geologically active areas).

FAQ’s on Essay on Earthquakes

Question 1. What causes an earthquake essay?

Answer: Earthquakes are caused when two or more tectonic plates meet.

Question 2. What is an earthquake?

Answer: An earthquake can be defined as the “shaking” of the earth’s surface as a result of a sudden release of energy from the lithosphere.

Question 3. What are the effects of an earthquake?

Answer: Earthquakes cause the ground to shake. More intense earthquakes can cause liquefaction, flooding, landslides and even tsunamis.

Question 4. Why are earthquakes dangerous?

Answer: Earthquakes do not directly affect humans, however, being in the wrong place can be dangerous – such as a building during an earthquake or on a beach when a tsunami occurs.

Question 5. Can earthquakes be predicted?

Answer: No, earthquakes cannot be predicted.

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Essay on earthquakes: top 5 essays on earthquakes | geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Earthquakes’ for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Earthquakes’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Earthquakes

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the World Distribution of Earthquakes

Essay # 1. Introduction to Earthquake:

An earthquake is a major demonstration of the power of the tectonic forces caused by endogenetic thermal conditions of the interior of the earth. ‘An earthquake is a motion of the ground surface, ranging from a faint tremor to a wild motion capable of shaking buildings apart and causing gaping fissures to open in the ground.

The earthquake is a form of energy of wave motion transmitted through the surface layer of the earth in widening circles from a point of sudden energy release, the focus’. ‘An earthquake is a vibration or oscillation of the surface of the earth caused by a transient distur­bance of the elastic or gravitational equilibrium of the rocks at or beneath the earth the surface.’

The magnitude or intensity of energy released by an earthquake is measured by the Richter Scale devised by Charles F. Richter in 1935. The number indicating magnitude or intensity (M) on Richter scale ranges between 0 and 9 but in fact the scale has no upper limit of number because it is a logarithmic scale.

It is estimated that the total annual energy released by all earthquakes is about 10 25 ergs, most of this is from a small number of earthquakes of magnitude over 7. The 1934 Bihar earthquake measuring 8.4 and Good Friday Earthquake of March 27, 1964 in Alaska (USA) meas­uring 8.4 to 8.6 on Richter scale are among the greatest earthquakes of the world ever recorded.

The place of the origin of an earthquake is called focus which is always hidden inside the earth but its depth varies from place to place. The deepest earth­quake may have its focus at a depth of even 700 km below the ground surface but some of the major Himalayan earthquakes, such as the Bihar-Nepal earth­quake of August 21, 1988, have their focus around 20- 30 km deep.

The place on the ground surface, which is perpendicular to the buried ‘focus’ or ‘hypocentre’, recording the seismic waves for the first time is called epicentre. The waves generated by an earthquake are called ‘seismic waves’ which are recorded by an in­strument called seismograph or seismometer at the epicentre. The science, that deals with the seismic waves, is called seismology.

Essay # 2. Causes of Earthquakes :

Earthquakes are caused mainly due to disequi­librium in any part of the crust of the earth. A number of causes have been assigned to cause disequilibrium or isostatic imbalance in the earth’s crust such as volcanic eruptions, faulting and folding, up-warping and down-warping, gaseous expansion and contraction inside the earth, hydrostatic pressure of man-made water bodies like reservoirs and lakes, and plate move­ments.

If we look at the world distribution of earth­quakes (fig. 10.2) it appears that the earthquake belts are closely associated with the weaker zones and isostatically disturbed areas of the globe. It was gener­ally believed that isostatically balanced and old and stable rigid masses were free from seismic events but the devastating earthquake of Koyna on 11 December, 1967, in Satara district of Maharashtra, Latur-Kilari earthquake of Sept. 30, 1993 of Maharashtra, dis­ proved this old connotation and made us believe that no part of the earth is immune from seismic events. A host of possible causes have been suggested to cause disequilibrium in the earth’s crust which trigger earth tremors of various sorts.

i. Vulcanicity:

Volcanic activity is considered to be one of the major causes of earthquakes. In fact, vulcanicity and seismic events are so intimately related to each other that they become cause and effect for each other. In other words, each volcanic eruption is followed by earthquakes and many of the severe earthquakes cause volcanic eruptions.

In fact, earth tremors are major precursor events of possible volcanic eruption in im­mediate future in any region. The explosive violent gases during the process of vulcanicity try to escape upward and hence they push the crustal surface from below with great force and thus is caused severe earth tremor of high magnitude.

Whenever these gases be­come successful in breaking the weak crustal surface they appear on the earth’s surface with violent explo­sion and great force causing devastating volcanic erup­tion which causes sudden disequilibrium in the crustal surface to invite severe earth tremors. It may be pointed out that the magnitude of such earthquakes depends upon the intensity of volcanic eruptions.

The violent eruption of Krakatoa volcano (between Java and Sumatra) caused such a severe earthquake the impact of which was experienced as far away as Cape Horn (some 12,800 km away). The devastating earth­quake generated 30 to 40 m high tsunamis waves which killed 36,000 people in the coastal areas of Java and Sumatra.

ii. Faulting and Elastic Rebound Theory :

The horizontal and vertical movements caused by endogenetic forces result in the formation of faults and folds which in turn cause isostatic disequilibrium in the crustal rocks which ultimately causes earth­quakes of varying magnitudes depending on the nature and magnitude of dislocation of rock blocks caused by faulting and folding. In fact, sudden dislocation of rock blocks caused by both tensile and compressive forces triggers immediate earth tremors due to sudden maladjustment of rock blocks.

The 1950-earthquake of Assam was believed to have been caused due to dis­equilibrium in crustal rocks introduced by crustal frac­ture. The 1934-earthquake of Bihar was also consid­ered to have been triggered by faulting activity under­neath. Underground active fault zone was suggested as one of the possible causes of Koyna earthquake (Maharashtra) of December 11, 1967.

The occurrence of severe devastating earth­quake of San Francisco (USA) in 1906 led H.F. Reid, one of the official investigators of the San Fransisco earthquake disaster, to advance his famous and much appreciated elastic rebound theory to explain the mode and causes of earthquakes mainly caused by fractures and faults in the earth’s crust and upper mantle.

Ac­cording to Reid the underground rocks are elastic like rubber and expand when stretched and pulled. The stretching and pulling of crustal rocks due to tensile forces is slow process. The rocks continue to be stretched so long as the tensile forces do not exceed the elasticity of the rocks but as the tensile forces exceed the rocks elasticity, they are broken and the broken rock blocks try immediately to occupy their previous positions so that they may adjust themselves. All these processes occur so rapidly that the equilibrium of the concerned crustal surface is suddenly disturbed and hence earth tremors are caused.

Reid’s elastic rebound theory very well ex­plains the occurrences of seismic events in Californian valley which is very much frequented by faulting activity. The famous earthquake of 1872 of California was caused due to creation of a massive fault in the Oven Valley. Similarly, the Californian earthquake of April 18, 1906, was caused due to the formation of 640 km long San Andreas Fault. The 1923 earthquake of Sagami Bay of Japan was also believed to have been triggered by big fault.

N. Krishna Brahman and Janardhan G. Niyogi, the two scientists of the National Geophysical Re­search Institute, have opined that the seismic events near Bhatsa Dam and Koyna Dam are very much active due to active faulting beneath the Deccan Traps. They have claimed to have identified two active rift faults in Maharashtra beneath the Deccan Traps viz. Kurduvadi rift and Koyna rift.

According to them Koyna rift begins from Kaladgi in Karnataka and runs for a distance of 540 km through Koyna and terminates 40 km west of Nasik. The 390 km long Kurduvadi rift begins from 40 km south-west of Solapur and after running through Kurduvadi it merges with the Koyna rift to the north of Pune. According to them Bhatsa Dam is located at the junction of Tawi and Koyna faults.

They are of the opinion that gradual increase in the seismic events in Bhatsa Dam area since 1983 is because of active faulting beneath the basaltic crust. The 1950 Assam earthquake, 1934 Bihar earthquake and 2001 Bhuj earthquake (Gujarat) of India were caused mainly by faulting.

iii. Hydrostatic Pressure and Anthropogenic Causes :

Though the earthquakes are natural phenomena and are caused by the endogenetic forces coming from within the earth but certain human activities such as pumping of groundwater and oil, deep underground mining, blasting of rocks by dynamites for construc­tional purposes (e.g., for the construction of dams and reservoirs, roads etc.), nuclear explosion, storage of huge volume of water in big reservoirs etc. also cause earth tremors of serious consequences.

The introduc­tion of additional artificial superincumbent load through the construction of large dams and impounding of enormous volume of water in big reservoirs behind the dams cause disequilibrium of already isostatically ad­justed rocks below the reservoirs or further augment the already fragile structures due to faults and fractures underneath.

Many major seismic events have been cor­related with dams and reservoirs all over the world such as earthquake of 1931 in Greece due to Marathon Dam constructed in 1929; initiation of earth tremors since 1936 around Hoover Dam (USA) due to creation of Mead Lake in 1935; Koyna earthquake of 1967 (in Satara district of Maharashtra) due to Koyna reservoir constructed in 1962; other examples of earthquakes caused by dams and reservoirs are of Monteynard and Grandvale in France, Mangla in Pakistan, Kariba in Zambia, Manic in Canada, Hendrick Verwoerd in South Africa, Nourek in earst-while USSR, Kurobe in Japan etc.

It may be pointed out that the intensity of earthquake has been positively correlated with the levels of water in the reservoirs. The earthquakes caused by hydrostatic pressure of reservoirs are called ‘reservoir-induced earthquakes’.

iv. Plate Tectonic Theory :

Recently, plate tectonic theory has been ac­cepted as the most plausible explanation of the causes of earthquakes. As per theory of the plate tectonics the crust or the earth is composed of solid and moving plates having either continental crust or oceanic crust or even both continental-oceanic crust.

The earth’s crust consists of 6 major plates (Eurasian plate, Ameri­can plate, African plate, Indian plate, Pacific plate and Antarctic plate) and 20 minor plates. These plates are constantly moving in relation to each Other due to thermal convective currents originating deep within the earth.

Thus, all the tectonic events take place along the boundaries of these moving plates. From the stand point of movement and tectonic events and creation and destruction of geomaterials the plate boundaries are divided into:

(i) Constructive plate boundaries,

(ii) Destructive plate boundaries, and

(iii) Conservative plate boundaries.

Constructive plate boundaries repre­sent the trailing ends of divergent plates which move in opposite directions from the mid-oceanic ridges, de­structive plate boundaries are those where two conver­gent plates collide against each other and the heavier plate boundary is sub-ducted below the relatively lighter plate boundary and conservative plate boundaries are those where two plates slip past each other without any collision.

Major tectonic events associated with these plate boundaries are ruptures and faults along the constructive plate boundaries, faulting and folding along the destructive plate boundaries and transform faults along the conservative plate boundaries. All sorts of disequilibrium are caused due to different types of plate motions and consequently earthquakes of varying magnitudes are caused.

Normally, moderate earthquakes are caused along the constructive plate boundaries because the rate of rupture of the crust and consequent movement of plates away from the mid-oceanic ridges is rather slow and the rate of upwelling of lavas due to fissure flow is also slow. Consequently, shallow focus earthquakes are caused along the constructive plate boundaries or say along the mid-oceanic ridges.

The depth of ‘focus’ of earthquakes associated with the constructive plate boundaries ranges between 25 km to 35 km but a few earthquakes have also been found to have occurred at the depth of 60 km. It is, thus, obvious that the earth­quakes occurring along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, mid- Indian Oceanic Ridge and East Pacific Rise are caused because of movement of plates in opposite directions (divergence) and consequent formation of faults and ruptures and upwelling of magma or fissure flow of basaltic lavas (fig. 10.1).

Earthquakes of high magni­tude and deep focus are caused along the convergent or destructive plate boundaries because of collision of two convergent plates and consequent subduction of one plate boundary along the Benioff zone. Here mountain building, faulting and violent volcanic erup­tions (central explosive type of eruptions) cause severe and disastrous earthquakes having the focus at the depth up to 700 km.

This process, convergence of plates and related plate collision, explains the maxi­mum occurrence of earthquakes of varying magnitudes along the Fire Ring of the Pacific or the Circum-Pacific Belt (along the western and eastern margins of the Pacific Ocean or say along the western coastal margins of North and South Americas and thus the Rockies to Andes Mountain Belt and along the eastern coastal margins of Asia and island arcs and festoons parallel to the Asiatic coast).

The earthquakes of the Mid-Conti- nental Belt along the Alpine-Himalayan chains are caused due to collision of Eurasian plates and African and Indian plates. The earthquakes of the western marginal areas of North and South Americas are caused because of subduction of Pacific plate beneath the American plate and the resultant tectonic forces whereas the earthquakes of the eastern margins of Asia are originated because of the subduction of Pacific plate under Asiatic plate.

Similarly, the subduction of Afri­can plate below European plate and the subduction of Indian plate under Asiastic plate cause earthquakes of the mid-continental belt. The severe earthquake of Bhuj of Jan. 26, 2001 (Gujarat, India) was caused due to reactivated subsurface faults due to subduction of Indian plate below Asiatic plate.

Creation of transform faults along the conserva­tive plate boundaries explains the occurrence of severe earthquakes of California (USA). Here one part of California moves north-eastward while the other part moves south-westward along the fault plane and thus is formed transform fault which causes earthquakes.

Essay # 3. Classification of Earthquakes :

It has become apparent after the discussion of the causes of seismic events that there is wide range of variation in the nature and magnitude of earthquakes. Each earthquake differs from the other and thus it becomes difficult to classify all the earthquakes into certain categories.

Inspite of these limitations earth­quakes are classified on the basis of common charac­teristics as given below.

i. Classification on the basis of Causative Factors :

(A) Natural earthquakes are those which are caused by natural processes i.e., due to endogenetic forces.

These are further divided into four subcategories:

(i) Volcanic earthquakes are caused due to vol­canic eruptions of explosive and fissure types. Gener­ally, volcanic earthquakes are confined to volcanic areas. The intensity and magnitude of such earth­quakes depend on the intensity and magnitude of volcanic eruptions. Examples, severe earthquakes caused by violent explosions of Krakatao volcano in 1883 and Etna volcano in 1968.

(ii) Tectonic earthquakes are caused due to dis­location of rock blocks during faulting activity. Such earthquakes are very severe and disastrous. Examples, 1872 earthquake and 1906 earthquake of California (USA), 1923 earthquake of Sagami Bay (Japan), 2001 earthquake of Gujarat etc.

(iii) Isostatic earthquakes are triggered due to sudden disturbance in the isostatic balance at regional scale due to imbalance in the geological processes. Generally, the earthquakes of active zones of mountain building are included in this cat­egory.

(iv) Plutonic earthquakes are infact deep-focus earthquakes which occur at greater depths. The centres (foci) of these earthquakes are generally located within the depths ranging from 240 km to 670 km.

(B) Artificial or man-induced earthquakes or anthropogenic earthquakes are caused by human ac­tivities such as pumping of water and mineral oil from underground aquifers and oil reserves respectively, deep underground mining, blasting of rocks by dyna­mites for constructional purposes (e.g., for the con­struction of dams and reservoirs, roads etc.), nuclear explosion, storage of huge volume of water in big reservoirs etc.

Examples, 1931 earthquake of Greece due to Marathon Dam, 1936 earthquake of Hoover Dam (USA) due to Lake Mead, Koyna earthquake (Maharashtra, India) of 1967 due to Koyna reservoir etc.

ii. Classification on the basis of Focus :

Guttenberg has divided the world seismic cen­tres on the basis of the depths of their foci into 3 types viz.:

(i) Moderate earthquakes—foci are located at the depths from the ground surface (0 km) to 50 km,

(ii) Intermediate earthquakes-seismic foci at the depths between 50 km and 250 km and

(iii) Deep focus earthquakes-seismic foci at the depths between 250 km and 700 km. Moderate and intermediate earthquakes are also called as shallow focus and intermediate focus earthquakes respectively.

iii. Classification on the basis of Human Casualties:

Earthquakes are grouped into 3 categories on the basis of their hazardous impacts in terms of human casualties:

(i) Moderately hazardous earthquakes- When human deaths caused by severe seismic tremors are below 50,000 mark. Examples, Kamakura earth­quake of Japan of 1293 A.D. (22,000 deaths), Tabas earthquake of Iran of 1978 A.D. (25,000 deaths), Armenian earthquake of erstwhile USSR of 1988 (26,000 deaths), Lisbon earthquake of Portugal in 1531 A.D. (30,000 deaths), Chile earthquake of 1939 A.D. (40,000 deaths), Quito earthquake of Ecudador in 1797 A.D. (41,000 deaths), Calabria earthquakes of Italy in 1783 A.D. (50,000 deaths), North Iranian earthquake of 1990 A.D. (50,000 deaths) etc.

(ii) Highly hazardous earthquakes causing human deaths ranging between 51,000 and 1,00,000 occurred in 1268 (in Silicia, Asia Minor, death toll, 60,000), in 1667 (in Shemaka, Caucasia, death toll 60,000), in 1693 (Catania, Italy, 93,000 deaths), in 1693 (Naples, Italy, 93,000 deaths), in 1932 (Kansu, China, human deaths, 70,000), in 1935 (Quetta, Baluchistan, death toll, 60,000), in 1970 (Chimbote, Peru, 67,000 deaths), in 2001 (Bhuj, Gujarat, 50,000-1,00,000 death) etc.

(iii) Most hazardous earthquakes causing human casualitis above 1,00,000 mark occurred in the year 1290 (in Chihli, China, 1,00,000 deaths), in 1556 (in Shen-Shu, China, 8,30,000 deaths), in 1737 (Kolkata, India, 3,00,000 deaths), in 1908 (in Messina, Italy, 1,60,000 deaths), in 1920 (in Kansu, China 1,80,000 deaths), in 1923 (in Tokyo, Japan, 1,63,000 deaths), in 1967 (in Tang-Shan, China 7,50,000) deaths etc.

Essay # 4. Hazardous Effects of Earthquakes:

It may be pointed out that the intensity of earth­quakes and their hazardous impacts are determined not on the basis of the magnitude of seismic intensity as determined by Richter scale but are decided on the basis of quantum of damages done by a specific earth­quake to human lives and property.

An earthquake becomes hazard and desaster only when it strikes the populated area. The direct and indirect disastrous ef­fects of earthquakes include deformation of ground surfaces, damage and destruction of human structures such as buildings, rails, roads, bridges, dams, factories, destruction of towns and cities, loss of human and animal lives and property, violent devastating fires, landslides, floods, disturbances in groundwater condi­tions etc.

i. Slope Instability and Failures and Landslides:

The shocks produced by earthquakes particularly in those hilly and mountainous areas which are composed of weaker lithologies and are tectonically sensitive and weak cause slope instability and slope failure and ultimately cause landslides and debris falls which damage settlements and transport systems on the lower slope segments.

The shocks generated by Peruvian earthquake of May, 1970 triggered off the collapse of ice caps seated on the peak of high mountain called Huascaran of 6654 m height near the town of Yungay in Peru.

The huge masses of falling ice dislodged thousands of tonnes of rock mass from the said moun­tain and thus was generated a gigantic debris flow down the slope of Huascaran mountain travelling at the speed of 320 km per hour. The enormous mass of debris flow covered a distance of 15 km within few minutes and buried many buildings and human struc­tures of Yungay town and killed about 25,000 people.

ii. Damage to Human Structures:

Earthquakes inflict great damage to human structures such as build­ings, roads, rails, factories, dams, bridges, and thus cause heavy loss of human property. It may be pointed out that in the ground surface composed of unconsolidated geomaterials, such as alluvium, colluvium, artificially infilled and levelled depres­sions, swamp deposits reclaimed through the dumping of coarse sands and city garbages the vibrations of earthquakes last longer and the amplitudes of seismic waves are greater than in the structures of consolidated materials, and bedrocks. Thus, the earthquakes cause more damages in the areas of unconsolidated ground than their counterparts in the regions of solid structures and bedrocks.

Two major earthquakes of Bihar-Nepal border in 1934 and 1988 can explain the impact of earthquake disasters on human structures and human lives. The damage caused by the Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934, measuring 8.4 on Richter scale, include 10,700 human deaths, landslides and slumping in an area of 250 km length and 60 km width, ruptures and faults in the ground surface etc. which caused irreparable dam­age to human structures.

The Darbhanga (Bihar) earth­quake of 21 August, 1988 measuring only 6.5 magni­tude on Richter scale (1000 times smaller than the great earthquake of 1934 in intensity) damaged 25,000 houses due to unconsolidated Gangetic alluvium which in fact acted as a seismic amplifier. The disastrous earthquake of Mexico city of 1985 (September) caused total collapse of 400 buildings, damage to 6,000 build­ings and moderate damage to 50,000 buildings.

Be­sides, the infrastructures of the city were seriously damaged, for example, water pipes were broken, tel­ecommunication lines and systems were severely dam­aged, power and water supplies were disrupted, inner vehicular transport was halted etc.

The severe earth­quake of 9 February, 1971 in the San Fernando valley, located to the north-west of Los Angeles (USA) caused total collapse of Olive New Hospital in Sylmar. This damage shocked everybody because this building was constructed in conformity with the earthquake resist­ance standards. Uttar Kashi (Uttaranchal) earthquake of 1991 and Latur-Kilari quake (Maharashtra) of 1993 (India) flattened many buildings.

iii. Damages to the Towns and Cities:

Earthquakes have their worst effects on towns and cities because of highest density of buildings and large agglomerations of human populations. The earth tremors of higher magnitudes shake the ground to such an extent that large buildings collapse and men and women are hurried under large debris and rubbles of collapsed structural materials of buildings, ground water pipes are bent and damaged and thus water supply is totally disrupted, electric poles are uprooted and electric and telephone wires and cables are heavily damaged caus­ing total disruption of electric supply, obstruction and destruction of sewer systems causes epidemics, road blocks throw the transport systems out of gear etc.

Kolkata city was severely damaged due to se­vere earthquake of 11 October, 1737 as thousands of buildings were severely damaged and 3,00,000 people were killed. The sad tale of the destruction of Mexico city due to the earthquake of 1985 has already been described. Recent Bhuj earthquake of Gujarat (Jan. 26, 2001) flattered towns of Anjar and Bhuj destroying more than 90 percent buildings.

iv. Loss of Human Lives and Property:

It may be pointed out that it is not the intensity (magnitude of Richter scale) of earthquake alone which matters more as regards the human casualities but it is the density of human population and houses which matter more in terms of human deaths and loss of property.

For exam­ple, the Kangra earthquake of India in 1905 recorded 8.6 magnitude on Richter scale but it could cause deaths of only 20,000 people whereas 1976 Tang-Shan earthquake of China measuring 7.8 to 8.1 on Richter scale killed 7,50,000 people.

More than 40,000 people lost their lives in the devastating earthquake of Turkey (August 17,1999) which recorded 7.4 on Richter scale. The loss of human lives caused by earthquakes has been enumerated in the preceding section on the clas­sification of earthquakes based on human casualities (see also tables 10.1, 10.2, 10.3).

The strong vibrations caused by se­vere earthquakes strongly shake the buildings and thus strong oscillations cause severe fires in houses, mines and factories because of overturning of cooking gas cylinders, contact of live electric wires, churning of blast furnaces, displacement of other electric and fire- related appliances. For example, the house wives were cooking their lunches in the kitchens when disastrous killer earthquake struck in the vicinity of Tokyo and Sagami Bay in 1923.

Consequently, severe fire broke out which claimed the lives of 38,000 people out of total fatalities of 1,63,000 caused by the earthquake through various processes. This earthquake resulted into total loss of property worth 2,500 million US dollars. The severe earthquake of San Fransisco (USA), which occurred on April 18, 1906, caused widespread fires in several parts of the city.

No water could be made available immediately to extinguish the fire because water pipes were also broken and displaced by the earthquake. Two biggest oil refineries of Turkey were completely devastated due to fire caused by the killer earthquake of August 17, 1999 (7.4).

vi. Deformation of Ground Surface:

Severe earth tremors and resultant vibrations caused by severe earth­quakes result in the deformation of ground surface because of rise and subsidence of ground surface and faulting activity. For example, the Alaska (USA) earth­quake of 1964 caused displacement of ground surface upto 10-15 metres.

The 1897-Assam earthquake caused a large fault measuring 10.6 m (35 feet) wide and 19.3 km (12 miles) long. Several faults were created in the mouth areas of the Mississippi river because of the earthquakes of 1811, 1812 and 1813 in the Mississippi valley. The alluvial-filled areas of the flood plains of the Mississippi were fractured at many places which forced ground surface at few places to collapse. This process resulted in the formation of lakes and marshes.

The ground surface was greatly deformed in the delta area of the Indus River (in Pakistan) due to the earthquake of 1819 as an area of 4,500 square kilome­tres was submerged beneath sea water and this land area disappeared for ever. It may be pointed out that subsidence in one area is followed by emergence of the land in other area.

This also happened in the Indus delta area as a large area measuring 80 km in length and 26 km in width was raised by 3 m from the surrounding area. Similarly, the coastal land of Chile was raised from 6m to 13 m because of the earthquake of 1835. The seafloor of Sagami Bay of Japan was subsided from 305 m to 457 m because of the earthquake of 1923.

vii. Flash Floods:

Strong seismic events result in the damages of dams and cause severe flash floods. Severe floods are also caused because of blocking of water flow of rivers due to rock blocks and debris produced by severe tremors on the hill slopes facing the river valleys. Sometimes, the blockade of the rivers is so immense that even the main course of the river is changed.

The 1950 earthquake of Assam produced barrier in the Dihang river, the tributary of the Brahmaputra River, due to accumulation of huge debris caused by landslides triggered by earth tremors and thus caused severe flash floods in the upstream sec­tions. Similarly, the dam on Subansiri River broke in and resultant flash flood submerged an area of 770 square kilometres.

viii. Tsunamis:

The seismic waves, caused by the earthquakes travelling through sea water, generate high sea waves and cause great loss of life and prop­erty. Since the Pacific Ocean is girdled by the ring of earthquakes and volcanoes tsunamis are more com­mon in the Pacific with a minimum frequency of 2 tsunamis per year. The Kutch earthquake of June 16, 1819 generated strong tsunamis which submerged the coastal areas and inflicted great damage to ships and country-made boats of the fishermen.

The land area measuring 24 km in length was raised upward because of tectonic movement triggered by the said earthquake which provided shelter to the stranded and marooned people. This is why the people called this raised land as Allah’s Bund (bund created by the God). The great tsunamis caused by the Lisbon earthquake of the year 1755 (in Portugal) generated about 12 m high sea waves which damaged most parts of Lisbon city and killed 30,000 to 60,000 people.

The impact of this earthquake was so enormous that the waters of inland lakes like Looh Lomond and Looh Ness continued to oscillate for several hours. The strong tsunamis triggered by Lisbon earthquake also caused 3.5 m to 4.5 m high waves as far away as the West Indies. The earthquake caused by violent volcanic eruption of Karakatoa in 1883 caused enormous tsunamis which generated 36.5 m high sea waves which ravaged the coastal areas of Java and Sumatra and killed 36,000 people.

Tsunami: Historical Perspective:

The waves generated in the oceans triggered by high magnitude earthquakes in the ocean floors (ex­ceeding 7.5 on Richter scale), or by violent central volcanic eruptions, or by massive landslides of the coastal lands or of submerged continental shelves and slopes or in deep oceanic trenches, are called tsunami, which is a Japa­nese word meaning thereby harbour waves.

The tsu­namis are long waves (with longer wavelengths of 100 km or more) which travel at the speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour but are of shallow in depth in deeper oceans and seas. As these waves approach coastal land, the depth of oceanic water decreases but the height of tsunamis increases enormously and when they strike the coast, they cause havoc in the coastal areas.

The best example of tsunami induced by violent volcanic eruption is from Krakatao eruption which occurred in 1883. Severe earthquake caused by Krakatao eruption generated furious tsunami waves ranging in 30 to 40 meters in height (average being 120 feet or 36.5 m). These waves were so violent that they ravaged the coasts of Java and Sumatra and killed 36,000 people.

Since the Pacific Ocean is girdled by conver­gent plate boundaries and the ring of earthquakes and volcanoes, tsunamis are more common in the Pacific with a minimum frequency of 2 tsunamis per year. The great tsunamis caused by the Lisbon earthquake (Por­tugal) of the year 1755 generated about 12 m high sea waves which damaged most parts of Lisbon city and killed 30,000 to 60,000 people.

The Kutch earthquake of June 16, 1819 generated strong tsunamis which submerged the coastal areas. The land area measuring 24 km in length was raised upward because of tectonic movements. The raised land was called as Allah’s Bund (bund created by the God).

The following are the significant tsunamis in the second half of the 20th century and 21st century:

(1) Aleutian tsunami:

April 1,1946, gener­ated by Aleutian earthquake of the magnitude of 7.8 on Richter scale, the resultant tsunami with a height of 35 m killed many people in Alaskan and Hawaiian coastal areas.

(2) Kamchatka tsunami:

Nov. 4,1952, earth­quake of the magnitude of 8.2, generated Pacific-wide tsunami with a wave height of 15 m.

(3) Aleutian tsunami:

March 9, 1957, earth­quake of the magnitude of 8.3 on Richter scale, gener­ated a Pacific-wide tsunami of 16 m height and ad­versely affected Hawaii islands.

(4) Chilean tsunami:

May 22, 1960, a strong earthquake of the magnitude of 8.6 on Richter scale, generated Pacific-wide tsunamis and claimed 2,300 human lives in Chile.

(5) Alaskan tsunami:

March 28,1964, a strong earthquake of the magnitude of 8.4 on Richter scale, generated 15 m high tsunami and killed more than 120 people in Alaska.

(6) Papua New Guirea tsunami:

July 17, 1998, a moderate intensity (7.00n Richter scale) sub­marine earthquake followed by massive submarine landslides generated 30m high tsunami killing thou­sands of people living along the lagoon.

(7) Sumatra tsunami:

December 26, 2004, a powerful earthquake of the magnitude of 9 on Richter scale, off the coast of Sumatra with its epicenter at Simeulue in the Indian Ocean occurred at 00:58:53 (GMT), 7:58:53 (Indonesian Local Time) or 6.28 a.m. (Indian Standard Time, 1ST) and generated a powerful tsunami with a wavelength of 160 km and initial speed of 960 km/hr. The deep oceanic earthquake was caused due to sudden subduction of Indian plate below Burma plate upto 20 meters in a boundary line of 1000 km or even more (2000 km upto southern China).

This tec­tonic movement caused 10 m rise in the oceanic bed which suddenly displaced immense volune of water causing killer tsunami. This earthquake was largest (highest on Richter scale) since 1950 and the 4th largest since 1900 A.D. The Andaman and Nicobar group of islands were only 128 km (80 miles) away from the epicenter (Simeulue) and the east coasts of India were about 1920 km (1200 miles) away from the epicenter.

The furious tsunami with a height of about 10 m adversely affected 12 countries bordering the Indian Ocean; worst affected areas included Tamil Nadu coast and Andman-Nicobar Islands of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand. The strong tsunami took about 3 hours to strike Tamil Nadu coast. The killer tsunami claimed more than200,000 human lives in the affected countries wherein Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India stood 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the number of human casualties.

Japan Tsunami, 2011 :

Date : March, 11, 2011; time : Japan time = 2.46 A. M., 1ST = 6.15 A. M.; undersea earth quake of 8.9 magnitude; epicenter 130 km off the coast of Sendai City near Lameng Village and 380 km north-east of Tokyo, at the depth of 10 km on sea bed; tsunami wave height 10m; more than 10,000 people killed; many cities like Miyako, Miyagi, Kesennuma were flattened; Sendai airport was inundated with heaps of cars, trucks, buses and mud deposits; aircrafts including fighter planes standing on airport were washed out by gushing tsunami waves; rotation speed of the earth increased by 16 microseconds; day length decreased by 1.6 microseconds; Honshu island was displaced by 2.4 m due to monstrous quake; earth rotational axis was displaced by 10 centimeters; 2100 km stretch of eastern coastlines having several villages, cities and towns were battered by killer tsunami; nuclear power plants in Fukushima severely damaged resulting into leakage of killer radiactive radiation; more than 5 lakh people in the radius of 20 km from Fukushima power plants were evacuated and shifted to safer places.

Essay # 5. World Distribution of Earthquakes :

If we look at the world distribution map of earthquakes (fig. 10.2) it appears that the seismic centres are closely related to certain zones of the globe. Earthquakes are, in fact, associated with the weaker and isostatically disturbed areas of the globe.

Most of the world earthquakes occur in:

(i) The zones of young folded mountains,

(ii) The zones of faulting and fracturing,

(iii) The zones representing the junction of continental and oceanic margins,

(iv) The zones of active volcanoes, and

(v) Along different plate bounda­ries.

The world map of the distribution of earth­quakes prepared by the seismologists on the basis of computer analysis and simulation of 30,000 earth­quakes that occurred between 1961 and 1967 very much coincides with the traditional map of world distribution of earthquakes (fig. 10.2) e.g.,

(1) Circum- Pacific Belt surrounding the Pacific Ocean,

(2) Mid- Continental Belt representing epicentres located along the Alpine-Himalayan Chains of Eurasia and northern Africa and epicentres of East African Fault Zones, and

(3) Mid-Atlantic Belt representing the earthquakes located along the mid-Atlantic Ridge and its offshoots. ‘The high-quality seismicity maps showed that narrow belts of epicentres coincide almost exactly with the crest of mid-Atlantic (Ridge).

The east Pacific, and the other oceanic ridges, where plates separate. Earthquake epicenters are also aligned along the transform faults, where plates slide past each other. But the earthquakes that occur at depths greater than about 100 km typically occur near margins where plates collide. It is a basic tenet of the theory of plate tectonics that these deep earthquakes actually define the positions of sub-ducted plates which are plunging back into the mantle beneath an overriding plate.

(1) Circum-Pacific Belt includes the epicentres of the coastal margins of North and South Americas and East Asia representing the eastern and western margins of the Pacific Ocean respectively. This belt accounts for about 65 per cent of the total earthquakes of the world.

This belt presents 4 ideal conditions for the occurrences of earthquakes viz.:

(i) Junction of continental and oceanic margins,

(ii) Zone of young folded mountains,

(iii) Zone of active volcanoes, and

(iv) Subduction zone of destructive or convergent plate boundaries.

The western marginal zones of North and South Americas are represented by Rockies and Andes folded mountain chains respectively. These zones are isostatically very sensitive zones because they are also the zones of convergent plate boundaries where the Pacific Oceanic plate is being continuously subducted below the American plates. Besides, these zones are also the areas of strong volcanic activity.

The earth­quakes associated with the eastern coastal margins of Asia and the island arcs and festoons (Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Japan, Philippines) are caused due to the collision of the Pacific and Asiatic plates and conse­quent vulcanicity. Japan records about 1500 seismic shocks every year.

The recent earthquake of Mexico city in 1985 reveals the impact of collision of convergent (destruc­tive) plate boundaries on the occurrences of earth­quakes. The damage done by the devastating earth­quake included death of 5,000 people, disappearance of 2,000 persons, injuries to 40,000 people, destruc­tion of 4000 buildings, damages to 6,000 buildings, lesser damage to 50,000 buildings etc.

(2) Mid-continental belt is also known as Medi­terranean Belt or Alpine-Himalayan Belt which repre­sents the collision or subduction zones of continental plates. About 21 per cent of the total seismic events of the world are recorded in this belt.

This belt includes the epicentres of the Alpine mountains and their off­shoots in Europe, Mediterranean Sea, northern Africa, eastern Africa and the Himalayan mountains and Bur­mese hills. This belt represents the weaker zones of folded mountains where isostatic and fault-induced earthquakes are caused due to subduction of African and Indian plates below Eurasian plate.

The Indian seismic foci are grouped into 3 zones viz.:

(i) Himalayan region,

(ii) Plain region, and

(iii) Plateau region.

The Himalayan region is a zone of maximum intensity in terms of the magnitude of seis­mic tremors because this zone is located in the subduc­tion zones of the Asiatic and Indian plates where the process of mountain building is still in progress. Uttar Kashi earthquake of October 20, 1991 and Chamoli earthquake of 29 March, 1999 (all in Uttaranchal of India) are latest examples. The plain seismic region is a zone of comparatively moderate intensity.

Even the earthquakes of Assam are also included in this zone. The significant earthquakes recorded in the past in this region are 1934 earthquakes of Bihar, Assam earth­quake of 1950, Kolkata earthquake of 1737 and Darbhanga earthquake (Bihar) of 1988. The peninsular Indian region is considered to be a zone of minimum intensity.

The Indian earthquakes along the Himalayas and foothill zones may be explained in terms of plate tectonics. The Asiatic plate is moving southward whereas the Indian plate is moving northward and hence the northern margin of the Indian plate is being subducted below the Asiatic plate.

The collision of Asiatic and Indian plates and resultant subduction of Indian plate and consequent folding and faulting and gradual rise of the Himalayas at the rate of 50 mm per year cause earthquakes of northern India, Tibet and Nepal.

Ac­cording to J.G. Negi, P.K. Agrawal and O.P. Pandey (as reported in Hindu, September 8, 1988) the Indian subcontinent has deformed at places due to the Indian Ocean floor spreading process. India folds at places and when the energy reaches the elastic limit the rocks break up and trigger strike-slip and thrust fault earth­quakes. The Himalayan fault zone is not actually one fault but a broad system of interactive faults. It consists of a complex grid of faults extending all along this colliding zone.

The earthquake belt extends through Sulaiman and Kirthar shear zones in the west, the Himalayas in the north and Burmese arc in the east. These tectonic events caused by plate movements cause earthquakes in the northern and north-eastern parts of India. Even the earthquakes of Peninsular India have been related to the active faults below deccan traps.

On the basis of magnitude of damage risk India is divided into five damage risk zones:

1. Zone I of least damage risk includes the places of some parts of Punjab and Haryana, plain areas of Uttar Pradesh, portions of plains of Bihar and west Bengal, delta area of the Godavari, coastal plain areas of Maharashtra and Kerala, desert areas of Rajasthan and most areas of Gujarat except Kutch area.

2. Zone II of low damage risk includes southern Punjab and Haryana, southern parts of plains of Uttar Pradesh, eastern Rajasthan, coastal districts of Orissa, Tamil Nadu etc.

3. Zone III of moderate damage risk represents the areas of southern and south-eastern Rajasthan, most of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, southern Bihar(Jharkhand), northern and north-western Orissa etc.

4. Zone IV of high damage risk covers Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, northern Punjab and Haryana, Delhi, eastern Uttar Pradesh, ‘tarai’ and ‘bhabar’ regions and Himalayan regions of Uttaranchal and Bihar and Sikkim areas.

5. Zone V of very high damage risk includes parts of Jammu and Kashmir, some parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, western north Bihar (including Munger-Darbhanga), entire north eastern India and Kutch areas of Gujarat.

Though the plains of west Bengal comes under the zone of least damage risk but the devastating severe earthquake of Kolkata of 11 October, 1737, killing 300,000 people, puts a question mark against this concept. The zone of very high damage risk of Kutch region of Gujarat registered most devastating killer earthquake on Jan. 26, 2001 in its seismic history of past 182 years killing 50,000 to 100,000 people. The epicenter was located near Bhuj town.

Bhuj Earthquake (2001):

While the people of India were busy in celebrat­ing the first republic day on Jan. 26, 2001 of the new century in different parts of the country and the pro­gramme of display of might of armed forces of the country was in progress in New Delhi, the nature demonstrated its might by rocking Kutch region of Gujarat when a severe earthquake struck at 8.45 A.M. and shook the region for almost a minute.

Within no time the villages and towns were flattened, high rise buildings collapsed, many villages and towns became heaps of debris, communication and power lines were completely disrupted, transport system was thrown out of gear and settlements became ruins. This was the second most devastating quake in the earthquake his­tory of India after 1737 killer earthquake of Kolkata (300,000 people dead). The epicentre of this earth­quake was located near Bhuj town (population, 150,000).

A moderate quake measuring 4.2 on Richter scale was registered on 24 December, 2000. The epicentre of this precursor quake was located only 22 km away from Bhuj town but no attention was paid to this precursor seismic event either by experts or by govt., agencies. The Bhuj quake of Jan. 26, 2001 was measured 6.9 on Richter scale by the Indian Meteorological Depart­ment (IMD) while the quake was measured 7.9 which was subsequently upgraded to 8.1 by the U.S.A. France and China.

National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) of India and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) also confirmed the American measurement (8.1). According to Indian Meteorological Department the main reason for the difference in the magnitude of the quake was the application of different methodolo­gies for the measurement of seismic magnitude by different countries and organizations.

It may be pointed out that the IMD uses body wave for the measurement of seismic magnitude while the USA uses shock waves for this purpose. This severe devastating earthquake killed 50,000 to 100,000 people and adversely affected 5,000,000 people. Bhachau and Anjar towns were totally flattened, 90, 60 and 50 per cent houses collapsed in Bhuj, Rajkot and Ahmedabad respec­tively.

If we look at the past seismic history of Gujarat, it appears that a severe earthquake occurs every 30 years e.g., Bhawnagar earthquake, 1872; Kutch earth­quake, 1903; Dwarka earthquake, 1940; Broach earth­quake, 1970 and Bhuj earthquake, 2001. Between 1845 and 1956 sixty six moderate earthquakes were registered in Kutch area but no one was killed, five severe and one very severe earthquakes rocked the area.

In fact, the sequence of destruction of Kutch began with the severe earthquake of June 19, 1819 (7.1 on Richter scale) when 2000 people were killed, Bhuj town was destroyed, famous mosquake of Ahmedabad was damaged, a 100 km long ridge known as Allah Bund was created (most of which is now in Sind of Pakistan, only 15 km ridge is in India) was formed etc.

The main reasons for the recent Bhuj earth­quake of2001 are: sea floor spreading of Indian Ocean at the rate of 5 cm per year, gradual northward move­ment of Indian plate and reactivated faults below the surface. Two major connecting faults have been lo­cated in Kutch region. A 200 km long and 100 km wide fault runs east-west between Bhuj and Ahmedabad.

The second fault measuring 500 km in length and 100 km in width runs in north-south direction through Ahmedabad, Mehsana and Baroda and is known as Combay Graben. These subterranean faults intersect each other near Viramgam, Santhalpur and Radhanpur towns and become the pivot of seismic events when­ever these are activated due to plate movement.

(3) Mid-Atlantic Ridge Belt includes the epicen­tres located along the mid-Atlantic Ridge and several islands nearer the ridge. This belt records moderate and shallow focus earthquakes which are essentially caused due to the creation of transform faults and fractures because of splitting of plates and their move­ment in opposite directions. Thus, the spreading of sea floor and fissure type of volcanic eruption cause earth­quakes of moderate intensity.

It may be pointed out that the earthquakes that occur along the plate margins (boundaries) are well explained on the basis of plate tectonic theory but the earthquakes originating within the plates are difficult to be explained on the basis of this revolutionary theory.

For example, the earthquakes of New Madrid, Charleston, Boston, Tang-Shan, Koyna etc. are a few examples of intraplate earth­quakes. Similarly, ‘the seismicity of the Indian Shield as revealed from Kutch (1819), Koyna (1967), Bhadrachalam (1969) and Broach (1970) cannot be explained easily by plate tectonics since they occurred away from plate boundary’.

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Disasters , Earthquakes , Essay , Essay on Earthquakes , Geography

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Essay on Earthquake for Student and Children

Earthquakes are natural phenomena that have fascinated and bewildered humans for centuries. These powerful events, caused by the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates, shape our planet’s dynamic landscape. In this essay, we will explore the science behind earthquakes, their causes, effects, and the measures taken to mitigate their impact, emphasizing their vital role in Earth’s geology.

The Earth’s Dynamic Crust

Earth’s outer layer, called the Earth’s crust, is divided into several large and small pieces known as tectonic plates. These plates are not stationary; they constantly move, albeit very slowly. When they interact, they can create stress and pressure, leading to earthquakes.

The Science of Seismic Activity

Earthquakes occur when there is a sudden release of energy along fault lines or plate boundaries. This energy travels as seismic waves, causing the ground to shake. Scientists use instruments called seismometers to measure and record these waves, helping us understand earthquake patterns.

Causes of Earthquakes

The primary cause of earthquakes is the movement of tectonic plates. There are three main types of plate interactions: convergent (plates move toward each other), divergent (plates move apart), and transform (plates slide past each other). Each type can result in seismic activity.

Magnitude and Intensity

Scientists measure the size of an earthquake using the Richter scale or the moment magnitude scale (Mw). The Richter scale quantifies the earthquake’s magnitude, while the moment magnitude scale provides a more accurate assessment of its energy release. The intensity of an earthquake’s impact is assessed using the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (MMI).

Effects of Earthquakes

Earthquakes can have devastating effects. They can cause buildings and bridges to collapse, trigger landslides, and even generate tsunamis if they occur under the ocean. The impact on human lives, infrastructure, and the environment can be profound.

Mitigating the Impact

Efforts to mitigate earthquake impact include constructing earthquake-resistant buildings and infrastructure, developing early warning systems, and conducting public education and preparedness campaigns. These measures save lives and reduce damage.

Historical Earthquakes

Throughout history, earthquakes have left their mark on civilizations. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and the 2011 Japan earthquake are examples of devastating events that have shaped communities and triggered significant changes.

Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics

Earthquakes are closely connected to the theory of plate tectonics, a fundamental concept in geology. Plate tectonics explains the movement of Earth’s crustal plates, leading to continental drift, mountain formation, and volcanic activity.

Conclusion of Essay on Earthquake

In conclusion, earthquakes are awe-inspiring natural events that result from the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates. They are a testament to the dynamic nature of our planet. While they can be destructive, earthquakes also play a crucial role in shaping Earth’s surface. Understanding the science behind earthquakes, their causes, and their effects is vital for our safety and the protection of our communities. By implementing measures to mitigate their impact and studying their occurrence, we can continue to learn from these powerful phenomena and strive for a safer future. Earthquakes are a reminder of the forces that shape our world and the importance of being prepared for nature’s unpredictability.

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• Speech on Earthquake

Long and Short Speech on Earthquake in English

An earthquake, also known as a quake or tremor, is a sudden violent shaking of the earth that can be very destructive, collapsing buildings and destroying entire geographical areas. Earthquakes are such powerful natural phenomena that they can claim a large number of lives in a single event. Earthquakes, unlike other natural disasters such as floods and drought, are a sudden activity that does not give us time to prepare, resulting in the greatest number of casualties at one time. Here we have provided both long and short speeches on earthquakes in English.

Long Speech on Earthquake

Today, I am here to deliver a speech on an earthquake. An earthquake is the shaking of the earth caused by the sudden shifting of pieces of the Earth's crust. In comparison to the hot rock deeper inside, the crust, or thin outer layer, is mostly cold and brittle rock. This crust is riddled with large and small cracks known as faults. 

Although these faults can be hundreds of miles long, the cracks are usually invisible because they are buried deep underground and the pieces of crust are compressed together very tightly.

We frequently read in the news that an earthquake has occurred in a specific location. We learn that a large number of people have died.

During an earthquake, there are earth tremors. These tremors can be mild and not cause concern at times. The tremors can be quite severe at times. People can feel the ground sway beneath their feet.

Earthquakes happen as a result of a sudden release of stored energy. This energy has accumulated over time as a result of tectonic forces within the earth.

Most earthquakes occur along faults in the upper 25 miles of the earth's surface when one side of the fault rapidly moves relative to the other. Shock waves (seismic waves) are caused by this sudden motion and travel through the earth from their point of origin, known as the focus.

Now, the question arises: what are the causes of an earthquake? It is the ground motion caused by seismic waves that are referred to as an earthquake. Every year, thousands of earthquakes are felt by people, with over one million strong enough to be recorded by instruments.

Strong seismic waves can cause significant local damage and travel long distances. Even weaker seismic waves, however, can travel long distances and be detected by sensitive scientific instruments known as seismographs.

Geologists have devised several methods for determining the magnitude of an earthquake. The Richter scale, which measures the energy released in an earthquake by measuring the size of the seismic waves, is one of the most common methods. The Mercalli scale measures the effects of an earthquake, such as shaking and visible damage.

The next important thing to be aware of is the effects of earthquakes. The first one is ground shaking/tremors. In a large earthquake, violent ground shaking could last for up to a minute. It may be difficult to stay upright during the earthquake. In the weeks following the main quake, several hundred aftershocks were felt. The second one is landslides. The consequences of earthquake-induced landslides can range from severely weakened foundations and structural failures to total destruction.

The last one is fault movement. A fault rupture could result in several meters of horizontal and/or vertical movement. Buildings, roads, water mains, gas lines, and power cables that cross the fault line may be displaced as a result.

What should we do to Protect Ourselves?

Follow the Earthquake Family Plan

Duck and Cover

Do not try to enter or leave any building during the earthquake.

After the earthquake is over, we should-

Check for injuries

Listen to the radio and/or television for important information

Not drink the water until told that it is safe

Check our location for possible damage and safeness

Relocate if necessary

Call out-of-town friends and family to update them on your safety and location.

Short Speech on Earthquake in English

An earthquake is a natural disaster. It is strange, but true, that the majority of earthquakes appear to occur during the winter season. Scientists believe it is caused by volcanoes and moving rocks beneath the earth's surface.

An earthquake can be a terrifying event. It appears out of nowhere and lasts only a short time. It only lasts a few seconds, but those few seconds are enough to frighten anyone mentally, physically, and socially.

They are caused by unusual movements of Earth's tectonic plates.

Seismology is the study of earthquakes. Earthquakes are usually short-lived, but they can happen again. The abrupt release of tension in the tectonic plates sends energy waves through the Earth. 

So, what are the different types of seismic plates? Seismic waves form when a large section of rock shifts abruptly. This rocking movement generates at least three different types of waves: P (primary) waves: When a rock is pushed or pulled forward or backward, pressure waves are produced. The fastest wave produced by an earthquake travels down into the earth rather than along the surface. 

Secondary (S) Waves: Shear waves are produced when a rock is shaken or whipped from side to side, similar to a slithery snake's wavy motion. Secondary waves, the second-fastest waves produced by an earthquake, travel downward into the earth rather than along its surface. 

Surface (L) Waves: Movement of the earth's surface up and down (rolling) or side to side.

Surface waves, the slowest earthquake waves, travel along the earth's surface rather than deep within it. Despite being the slowest of the earthquake waves, L waves typically cause more damage to society than P or S waves. L waves are named after a geologist who investigated them. These three types of waves are produced by every earthquake.

Now, let us educate ourselves about the do’s and don’t during an earthquake. If you are indoors, Take refuge beneath a table or bench. If there isn't a table or desk, sit against a wall away from objects that could fall on you, and avoid windows, bookcases, and tall, heavy furniture. Wait in your safe location until the ground stops shaking, then check to see if you are hurt. Examine the people around you as well. Move slowly and keep an eye out for anything that has fallen. Soon after, there may be aftershocks or smaller earthquakes. So, be ready. If you need to leave the building after the shaking has stopped, take the stairs rather than the elevator.

Stay safe, follow the instructions and educate yourself and the people around you.

Speech On Earthquake 300+ words in English

An earthquake can be a life-changing event. It appears out of nowhere and does not last long. It only lasts a few seconds, yet those few seconds are enough to terrify anyone on a mental, physical, and social level.

It not only makes people fearful, but it also does significant damage.

People are frightened by such calamities because sometimes people are buried alive beneath collapsing structures. Many individuals are displaced by this natural disaster in a matter of seconds. Some parts of the world, such as Japan, are prone to earthquakes. Because they are located in a seismic zone, this is the case. These places have been subjected to several earthquakes. Deforestation is one of the primary causes of earthquakes. We live in a country where our government has always stood by its people in the face of adversity.

By arriving at such a location on time, welfare organizations, the army, and government personnel have always worked for the welfare of victims.

Food and shelter are offered to the victims. Even doctors and nurses assist those who are injured as a result of such disasters. We should be grateful to a government that has always stood by us and assisted victims in regaining their footing after losing everything. May we always be able to overcome earthquakes with the help and support of the people in the future.

Earthquakes are a type of natural disaster that occurs suddenly. Earthquakes can strike anywhere and at any moment, resulting in the loss of life and environmental devastation. Tsunamis and volcanic eruptions are common after earthquakes. Earthquakes are shakiness or disruptions on the Earth's surface caused by seismic waves produced by the abrupt release of energy contained in the Earth's crust. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured with the help of a device known as a seismometer. The greater the magnitude, the more disastrous the event. Earthquakes strike suddenly and vary in intensity depending on geographical and physical factors. Earthquakes frequently strike areas on the borders of oceanic and continental plates. When earthquakes strike a residential area, residents should not panic but take precautions by going outside or hiding behind a substantial piece of furniture. We must be responsible and learn how to deal with an earthquake because its nature is abrupt.

10 Lines for Writing an Essay on Earthquake-

An earthquake is a natural calamity that can occur at any moment of time and at anywhere on the earth’s surface.

In comparison to other natural calamities, an earthquake is the most powerful and strong calamity which can destroy a big area.

The earthquake has a long and devastating history from ancient times and the irregularity of its occurrence makes it more fearful.

If we talk about earth, the earth’s crust consists of various unparallel solid rocks which slowly move deep inside.

The surfaces on which the entire world stays are called plates and those plates collide with each other and produce an earthquake.

The field of science in which earthquakes are studied is ‘seismology’ and it also determines the intensity and magnitude of an earthquake.

The volcanic eruption which releases lava, gases, etc which creates pressure and imbalance inside the earth may also result in earthquakes.

To protect oneself from an earthquake, one should stay inside or outside the house, but not too close to the building, lampposts, windows, and so on.

People should stand close to the wall or hide by entering any furniture such as a bed, chair, or table.

During an earthquake, always use the stairs to exit the building and reach open space; never use a lift. 

To summarize, an earthquake is a massive and terrifying natural phenomenon. It demonstrates humanity's frailty in the face of nature. It is a huge occurrence that has taken everyone by surprise. Above all, an earthquake only lasts a few seconds but can cause unfathomable damage.

Also, children can make a speech on earthquakes in Hindi by learning the points given above.

FAQs on Speech on Earthquake

1. What are the effects of an earthquake?

A big earthquake can cause the ground to shake violently for one minute. Standing during an earthquake might be extremely difficult. In the weeks following the significant earthquake, hundreds of aftershocks might be felt.

Landslide: Landslides caused by earthquakes can cause severe foundation and structural failures, as well as destruction.

Liquefaction: Ground-shaking transforms some soils into liquids, causing structures to flex or bend.

Defect Displacement: The mistake could be broken down into many meters of horizontal and vertical movement. Buildings, roads, water sources, gas lines, and electrical wires that cross the fault line may suffer as a result.

2. What does it mean to be a seismologist?

Earth scientists that specialize in geophysics research the generation and propagation of seismic waves in geological materials are known as seismologists. These used geological materials can range in size from a small, single laboratory sample to the entire Earth, that is, from the surface to the core.

Their research tries to decipher the Earth's geological makeup and structures. In the case of earthquakes, seismologists assess the potential threats and work to reduce their impact by raising construction standards.

3. Is there a maximal earthquake magnitude?

Although there is no mathematical limit to the magnitude computation, there is a physical limit. The magnitude is proportional to the surface area of the rock blocks that rub together and cause seismic waves. The intensity must also reach a maximum since the tectonic plates have limiting dimensions. The largest earthquakes are thought to have a magnitude of 9.5, which matches the intensity of the Chilean Earthquake.

4. What causes earthquakes and where do they happen?

Earthquakes happen worldwide, but the majority of them happen on active faults that define the Earth's major tectonic plates. Ninety percent of the world's earthquakes happen near these plate borders, which cover around 10% of the Earth's surface. The Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire," which includes Canada's west coast, is one of the world's most active locations. If you want to read more about these topics, download the Vedantu App and get free study material specially designed and curated by experts.

5. During an earthquake, does the ground open up?

No, it is a simple response. A widespread fallacy is that an earthquake causes a hole in the ground to open, swallowing unfortunate people. This is a Hollywood interpretation of earthquakes with nothing to do with reality. Fissures may appear on the ground or in basements following a big earthquake. These aren't flaws, nor are they crevasses that are about to close up. These fissures are most likely created by soil settlement due to ground shaking.

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Essay on “I Experience an Earthquake” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

I Experience an Earthquake

Outline: Introduction – my strange experience – we rushed out – the havoc caused by the earthquake – man’s control over nature is incomplete.

Who can forget what happened in the small hours of the 30th September 1993? On the previous day I had gone to bed, expecting tomorrow to be like the so many tomorrows that had followed one another in weary succession. But the day, which dawned on 30th September 1993 proved to be different and brought to me a new and horrible experience. I was suddenly awakened at about 4 a.m. by a strange experience which I did not understand at first. I was aware that its main ingredients were a peculiar movement and a peculiar sound. I was rocked for a few seconds. as though I was in a cradle. I heard strange sounds in which I could identify the tinkling of pots, the rattling of windows, and certain muffled rumbling noise issuing from the earth. After a few moments I realized, to my horror, that it was the earthquake.

Others too in my house and locality must have realized it at the same time or a little earlier, as we all sprang up from our beds in a trice and rushed out of our houses, carrying sleeping babes and flabbergasted children. The tremor of the earth had ceased; yet we stood in the open for an hour, dreading another tremor. There was nip in the air that early morning, and the electric lights had gone off. People stood in darkness, talking about the earthquake and praying to God that it might not be repeated.

The tremors of the earth caused no damage in Mumbai. For several hours next morning we thought, with gratitude to Nature, that it had been, on the whole, harmless. But at about noon, news came that the earthquake had played havoc in Latur. All the houses in parts of Latur had been razed to the ground and hundreds of human lives lost.

The destruction wrought by the earthquake at Latur proved the helplessness of man in the face of an unexpected natural calamity. It shows how incomplete is man’s vaunted control over the forces of Nature. He has much to achieve yet in this respect. Is it not a pity that he is frittering away his resources and energies in petty animosities, squabbles and wars?

Difficult Words:Small hours -early hours. ingredients -elements. muffled -subdued, low. flabbergasted – bewildered, amazed. tremor – trembling. razed -destroyed, leveled to the ground. wrought – worked, caused. vaunted – boasted. frittering – wasting.

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Essay on Earthquake for Students in English | 500+ Words Essay

January 2, 2021 by Sandeep

Essay on Earthquake: It is a major natural disorder that causes trembling of the Earth’s surface. Heavy loss to both lives and property are usually recorded when an earthquake occurs. When the Earth’s tectonic plates glide over one another, it creates seismic waves. If these waves are of a higher magnitude, then destructive earthquakes occur. Earthquakes have different names depending on their location like tsunamis, landslides, avalanches and large displacement. Seismographs measure the magnitude of earthquakes.

Essay on Earthquake 500 Words in English

Below we have provided Earthquake Essay in English, suitable for class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Earthquake is the shaking of the earth, which releases an immense amount of energy that creates seismic waves. These waves can be ranged from weak to strong. Some seismic waves are too weak to sense and too strong to destroy cities and create violence. The seismic activity refers to the rate and frequency of earthquakes experienced over the years.

Manifestations of the earthquakes are the shaking and the displacement of the ground. A tsunami is caused when the epicenter of a massive earthquake is displaced by strong waves. Because of the earthquake, the phenomenon of landslides and volcanic activity takes place. This can also be defined as the seismic wave that is caused by naturally or by humans.  The occurrence is mostly due to the cause of geographical faults. The other reasons include landslides, volcanic activities, nuclear tests, etc.

Types of Earthquake

• Tectonic Earthquakes –  Tectonic plates are the loose, cracked fragments present in the crust of the earth. These plates move slowly and gradually under the surface. The movement of the plates is in different forms. They can move towards each other, away from each other, in the sliding directions, or in a colliding way. A huge tremor occurs when these plates slide over one another. They are the reason for massive mass destruction.
• Volcanic Earthquakes –  Volcanic Earthquakes mostly occur after or before the phenomenon of the eruption. The magma eruption from the earth leaves a space behind. To fill the space, the rocks displaces towards the space that results in the severe earthquakes. The cases of massive explosions occur when magma blocks the vent during the volcanic activity.
• Explosion Earthquakes –  The main reason for these kinds of explosions is nuclear testing. Men mostly trigger these earthquakes. In the year 1930, numerous small towns and villages were devasted because of the testing of nuclear weapons by the United States.
• Collapse Earthquakes –  They occur near underground mines and are generally smaller. In addition, these are called as mines burst. Pressures that are generated within the rocks instigate these earthquakes. These earthquakes mostly prevailed in the small towns where the underground mines are located.

Effects of Earthquake

• Ground Shaking is considered the most familiar experience one finds during the earthquakes. It is the series of seismic waves that hit the ground from a small to large scales. The consequences noted are the damages to the buildings, troubles in standing stable, and destruction of natural habitats in the cases of vigorous shaking.
• When the wave’s movement is actually along with the fault, this leads to the total distortion of the ground. The cases for actively ground ruptures are quite rare. The surface of the earth is left with deep cracks.
• When there occurs a sustainable shaking and direct rupturing of less stable slopes, it gives rise to the phenomenon of landslides.
• Tsunamis, popularly and often called tidal waves, are termed as the most hazardous event. The main cause of this is the movement of the seafloor vertically, causing a series of water waves. The speed of the Tsunami has been measured for more than 700 km/hr. This speed resembles the speed of the jet planes, and it can reach up to 27 meters.

Steps to Control Earthquake

Personal Measures

• When an earthquake occurs under table and door-frames are quite the right place to seek shelter.
• Try not to be in some confined areas. Run in the open area, if possible
• Take preventive measures to avoid risks from liquefaction, landslides, etc.
• Keep a check on the gas lines and pipes, after earthquakes.
• Keep a close connection with the authorities, and try to follow the instructions.

Technical/Biological Measures

• Limited measures to be taken to prevent the damage from secondary effects. As no measures can be taken to prevent earthquakes.
• The design of the buildings should be earthquake resistant.

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• School Education /

Essay on Earthquake

• Updated on  
• Apr 1, 2024

Earthquakes are some of the most devastating natural disasters for mankind, nature and property. Just because of this natural occurrence millions of money get washed away in a matter of a few seconds. An earthquake can cause a person huge loss in terms of property damage.  ls In the blog, you will read about earthquakes and their types and read several essays about them. 

Table of Contents

• 1 What is an Earthquake?
• 2 Types of Earthquake
• 3 Essay on Earthquake (200 Words)
• 4 Essay on Earthquake (300 Words)
• 5 Essay on Earthquake (400 Words)

What is an Earthquake?

When the earth’s surface moves suddenly, this phenomenon is called an Earthquake. Earthquakes are known as one of the deadliest natural disasters which can occur. With this, a huge amount of loss of property can be caused.  

Types of Earthquake

There are various types of earthquakes which can occur. While some are silent there are others which come under the severe category. Most of the dangerous earthquakes are unpredictable. It can cause irreversible damage to both humankind and property. Here are the types of earthquakes.

• Tectonic : Waves caused because of the activity of the tectonic plates under the surface of the earth causes this earthquake.
• Volcanic : Tremors caused because of the volcanic activity causes this earthquake.
• Collapse : These are the earthquake that occur in mines and caverns.
• Explosive : These Earthquakes almost always occur due to the testing of nuclear weapons.

Essay on Earthquake (200 Words)

The Devastating Impact of Earthquakes on Humans

Earthquakes are calamities caused by the abrupt release of energy in the Earth’s crust, which causes the ground to shake. Throughout history, they have been accountable for great havoc and human casualties.

The main cause of earthquakes is the movement of tectonic plates. These plates can move in three different directions: towards each other (convergent borders), apart (divergent boundaries), or past each other (transform boundaries). When enough tension and pressure accumulate along these limits, it is finally released as seismic waves, which result in earthquakes.

Earthquakes can have terrible effects. They cause the collapse of structures such as buildings, bridges, and infrastructure, which causes casualties and damage to property. Landslides and tsunamis may be brought on by ground trembling, which would exacerbate the damage. Earthquakes can interrupt vital services like electricity, transit, and water supply, causing long-term suffering for the populations they affect.

Early warning systems and building codes are crucial for minimising the effects of earthquakes. Governments and communities should invest in infrastructure that is earthquake-resistant and conduct drills in order to be prepared for such disasters. Education on earthquake preparedness is essential to make sure that people are aware of how to react when one occurs.

Although we cannot prevent earthquakes, we may lessen their devastation by being prepared and building robust infrastructure. The safety of communities that are susceptible to these unforeseen disasters is our shared duty.

Essay on Earthquake (300 Words)

Due to changes in the Earth’s surface, two natural disasters—earthquakes and volcanoes—occur. It is said that there is no involvement of man behind these earthquakes. However, there is a theory that both earthquakes and volcanoes are correlated.  It is also to be noted that earthquakes, which act as a warning indication of an imminent volcano eruption are more common in volcanic zones. 

When an earthquake occurs, the earth is usually shaken. This is because of the tectonic plates which cause this movement. These spheres are situated beneath the surface of the Earth. There are sometimes instances that volcanic eruptions may follow these earthquakes which may lead to volcanic movements. There are several types of earthquakes which have left a terrible amount of damage. 

The movement of magma is what causes volcanic earthquakes, sometimes referred to as volcano-tectonic earthquakes. The pressure and changes brought about by this movement eventually result in volcanic earthquakes by altering the rock surrounding the lava. These earthquakes have a reputation for wreaking havoc, including building uprooting, ground cracking, and ground deformation.

Both earthquakes and volcanoes have the potential to cause significant damage to humanity. Despite their greatest efforts, scientists have not been able to forecast the time or date of either of these natural disasters. People who live in earthquake- and volcano-prone regions must be on guard, ready to deal with these hazards, and should respond calmly and sensibly if such a catastrophe arises.

Essay on Earthquake (400 Words)

Magnum or tectonic plates moving beneath the surface of the Earth is what causes earthquakes. They can differ in time, severity, and other aspects. Different classifications have been used to categorise earthquakes. Depending on what kind they are, they have different effects.

Types of Earthquakes 

• Tectonic Earthquake 

A tectonic earthquake results from the breaking of the Earth’s crust as a result of pressure being applied to rocks and tectonic plates.

This mild earthquake frequently occurs in the same region that was struck by a strong earthquake a few hours, days, or weeks earlier.

• Volcanic Earthquake 

It is an earthquake that happens as a result of both volcanic activity and tectonic factors.

Violent earthquakes can inflict massive destruction, while mild earthquakes are innocuous. During this natural disaster, many people die, many others are hurt, and many homes and other buildings are destroyed.

A hazardous natural disaster, earthquakes have devastated many areas of the world. Since scientists cannot correctly foresee its appearance, it cannot be avoided.

Must Read: Essay on Cricket for Class 10th: 250, 300 & 500 Words

Related Reads

A. An earthquake occurs when the strain energy stored in the Earth’s crust suddenly releases, causing waves of shaking to propagate outward from the earthquake source.

A. The abrupt release of energy from a specific location of the Earth’s crust causes earthquakes.

We hope this blog provided you with all the necessary information about earthquakes and how are they caused. To discover more articles like this one consult the study abroad experts at Leverage Edu

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Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

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• Effects of Earthquake

Earthquake is one of the worst natural disasters . It causes a catastrophe. But do you know why do earthquakes occur? What are its after-effects? Let’s find out more about it.

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Introduction to Earthquake

An earthquake is a sudden shaking movement of the surface of the earth . It is known as a quake, tremblor or tremor. Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to toss people around and destroy whole cities. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency , type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.

So far, there have been sixty-two earthquakes in India. The first recorded earthquake in India was on 6th June 1505 it occurred in Saldang, Karnali zone. And the most recent one happened in India as on 31st January 2018 and occurred in Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

An earthquake is measured on Richter’s scale. A seismometer detects the vibrations caused by an earthquake. It plots these vibrations on a seismograph. The strength, or magnitude, of an earthquake, is measured  using the Richter scale. Quakes measuring around 7 or 8 on the Richter scale can be devastating.

Learn more about Shape of Earth here in detail.

Causes of Earthquake

Earthquakes are caused by sudden tectonic movements in the Earth’s crust. The main cause is that when tectonic plates, one rides over the other, causing orogeny collide (mountain building), earthquakes. The largest fault surfaces on Earth are formed due to boundaries between moving plates.

The stress increases when they stick, relative motion between the plates. This continues until the stress rises and breaks, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault, releasing the stored energy as shock waves. Such faults are San Andreas fault in San Francisco,  Rift valley  in Africa etc.

The effects of an earthquake are terrible and devastating. Many building, hospitals, schools, etc are destroyed due to it. A lot of people get killed and injured. Many people lose their money and property. It affects the mental health and emotional health of people.

The environmental effects of it are that including surface faulting,  tectonic uplift and subsidence, tsunamis, soil liquefaction, ground resonance , landslides and ground failure, either directly linked to a quake source or provoked by the ground shaking.

Read about The Earth in more detail here .

Solved Examples for you

Q. The earth shakes when _________ occurs.

Sol. The correct answer is option ”c”. Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake.

Q. What was the measurement of the intensity of earthquake occurred in Bhuj on Richter scale?

• eight to nine
• seven to eight
• five to six

Sol. The correct answer is option ”c”. The intraplate earthquake reached 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale.

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Earthquake Essay

Earthquake occurs due to disturbance in the tectonic plates that lie under the surface of Earth. Earthquakes may be brief and mild or big and destructive. Our planet has suffered several severe and mild earthquakes since centuries. Earthquakes are mostly brief but can cause mass destruction within seconds. People around the world have suffered immensely due to earthquakes in the past.

Long and Short Essay on Earthquake in English

Here are essays on Earthquake of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any Earthquake essay as per you need:

Short Essay on Earthquake – Essay 1 (200 words)

Earthquakes occur suddenly, usually without any warning signs, and can cause huge destruction. Though there is a separate branch of science referred to as seismology that study about earthquakes and tries to predicts their occurrence however, it doesn’t help in determining the exact time or date of this natural calamity.

Scientists around the world constantly try to predict the occurrence of earthquakes. While seismology department does warn against Earthquake in certain areas in future however it is unable to find out as to when exactly it would occur.

As it is said, little knowledge is dangerous hence lame predictions about earthquakes do more harm to the people than good. People begin to live in constant fear of earthquake. Panic among people living in such areas can be seen clearly as they can hardly do much about safeguarding themselves from the possible destruction caused due to this natural calamity.

However, earthquakes aren’t always severe and destructive. At times, these are small and mild. Sometimes, these are so mild that people do not even get to know that these have occurred. However, even at the slightest of tremors, it is suggested to evacuate the buildings and come out in an open area to ensure safety.

Essay on Earthquakes and Volcanoes – Essay 2 (300 words)

Introduction

Earthquakes and volcanoes are two natural calamities that occur due to the changes in the surface of Earth. Man has little or just no role in bringing about these natural disasters. Earthquakes and volcanoes are said to be interrelated. It has been observed that volcanic regions are more prone to earthquakes that often serve as a warning sign of an impending volcano.

Earthquake is basically the shaking of the Earth. Earthquakes either occur due to the movement of tectonic plates under the Earth’s surface or because of the movement of magma in volcanoes. The ones caused due to magma movements may be followed by volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes can be weak as well as violent. While the weak volcanoes are hardly felt, the violent ones can result in the devastation of big buildings and huge loss of life. Numerous earthquakes have occurred in different parts of the world causing severe destructions.

Volcano is the eruption of hot lava from the surface of Earth. It occurs when the Earth’s crust ruptures. Hot lava, poisonous gases and volcanic ash come out by way of volcanic eruptions and can cause vast destruction. Different types of volcanoes include super volcanoes, sub-glacial volcanoes, underwater volcanoes and mud volcanoes.

What is Volcanic Earthquake?

Volcanic earthquake also known as volcano tectonic earthquake is caused due to the movement of magma. This movement exerts pressure and causes changes in the rock around the magma and this eventually leads to volcanic earthquake. These earthquakes are known to cause major destruction that may include ground deformation, uprooting of buildings and ground cracks.

Both earthquakes and volcanoes may result in severe loss for the mankind. While scientists try their best to predict both of these, they haven’t been successful in determining the time and date for these natural disasters. People living in earthquake and volcano prone areas must stay vigilant and be prepared to face these and should act calmly and wisely if such a problem occurs.

Essay on Types, Causes and Effects of Earthquake – Essay 3 (400 words)

Earthquakes are caused due to the movement of magnum or tectonic plates under the Earth’s surface. They may vary in severity, time and other factors. Earthquakes have been classified into various categories. The effect they cause varies based on their type.

Types of Earthquake

There are different types of earthquakes that have been experienced on our planet. Here is a look at the main types of earthquakes:

• Tectonic Earthquake

A tectonic earthquake is an outcome of the breakage of Earth’s crust because of exertion of pressure on rocks and tectonic plates.

This is often a mild earthquake that takes place in the same area that has been hit by a severe earthquake few hours, days or weeks before.

A small earthquake that takes place before a severe earthquake is referred to as a foreshock.

• Explosion Earthquake

This type of earthquake occurs because of explosion of a chemical and nuclear device.

• Volcanic Earthquake

It is an earthquake that occurs due to the combination of tectonic forces and volcanic activities.

• Collapse Earthquake

This type of earthquake is caused due to the explosion of rocks. These are generally mild earthquakes that occur due to mining activities.

• Submarine Earthquake

It is an earthquake that takes place underwater particularly at the bottom of an ocean. It is commonly referred to as Tsunami.

Causes of Earthquake

An earthquake basically is an outcome of the movements of tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface. However, these are also caused due to certain other reasons. These are mostly natural reasons however sometimes these can even be man-made. Given below are the various causes of earthquakes:

• Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanic eruptions are a common cause of earthquake. Areas that are faced with frequent volcanic activities are more prone to earthquakes.

• Geological Fault

It occurs because of the displacement of plates from their original position. As the rocks move alongside these planes, it brings about tectonic earthquakes.

• Human Activities

Man is known to influence various natural activities and earthquakes are no exception. Nuclear bombing, building of dams and mining are few such human activities that can cause earthquake.

Effects of Earthquake

Mild earthquakes are harmless however the violent ones can cause mass destruction. Numerous lives are lost, several people are injured and many houses and other buildings are devastated during this natural calamity.

Earthquake is a dangerous natural calamity that has caused huge damage in various parts of the world. It cannot be avoided as the scientists are not able to predict its occurrence accurately.

Long Essay on Earthquake Management – Essay 4 (500 words)

Earthquake is a natural calamity which is capable of causing vast destruction and there is no way to stop it from occurring. Our planet has been hit by a number of strong earthquakes of different magnitudes that have led to the loss of many innocent lives and heavy damage to the property. A need for disaster management for earthquake was felt owing to the huge and frequent damage they had been causing around the world.

Earthquake Management

The seismic department studies earthquakes. The department monitors the environment and the activities that occurs under the Earth’s surface in an attempt to predict earthquakes and their severity. However, it has largely failed in predicting the exact date and time of occurrence of the earthquake.

Since it is almost impossible to forecast and avoid the occurrence of earthquakes, we must prepare ourselves to lower the losses caused by these. Japan for instance is highly prone to earthquakes. However, their preparedness to handle this natural calamity ensures little or no damage to property and life in the country.

The recent earthquakes that jolted India have shown how under-prepared we are to handle this natural calamity. A need to build an environment which is earthquake resistant has been felt. Though, this cannot be full proof however efforts in this direction can certainly help bring down the magnitude of losses.

Extensive research is going on in this direction. Builders are being encouraged to build earthquake resistant structures. Special degree in Earthquake Engineering is being imparted to prepare our future generations to tackle this natural disaster smartly. Structural Earthquake Engineering, Geo-technical Earthquake Engineering, Remote Sensing and Seismology are the fields that are being explored and taught.

Do not Panic during an Earthquake

It is but natural to panic during any difficult situation however doing so only worsens the problem. We must thus not panic during earthquake. We should rather act wisely. Here are few things you can do to lower the possibility of disaster:

• Come out of your house/ office/ shop and gather in an open place.
• Do not use elevator. Take the stairs to go down.
• Make sure you are at a safe place as you come out and not somewhere where there is a possibility of falling objects or collapsing building.
• Get under a table or bed if you cannot move out.
• Stay calm and don’t indulge in negative talks.
• Help those caught inside or in need if you can.

Earthquake: Precautions to be taken

People living in earthquake prone areas must stay alert and prepared to handle this natural disaster at all times. Here are certain things that they must keep handy:

• Necessary medicines
• Canned packaged food
• Camp stoves that can be installed outdoors
• Enough drinking water
• Sanitation stock
• Cash/ Debit card/ Credit Card
• Important Certificates/ documents

It is a good idea to prepare a bag that can be carried easily in case of emergency.

The government must take measures to ensure the destruction caused by this natural calamity is lowered. In case of a severe earthquake, the government must take measures to help people who lose their houses and other important belongings. The government must be prepared to handle such an emergency situation efficiently so that people do not suffer further.

Long Essay on Earthquake in India – Essay 5 (600 words)

Earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates shift and climb over one another. This leads to mountain building referred to as orogeny which is the cause of severe earthquakes. Thus, the tectonic plates that lie under the surface of Earth are responsible for this natural calamity. Just like many other parts of the world, India has also experienced numerous earthquakes in different areas. While some of these have caused serious destruction others have largely gone unnoticed.

Major Earthquakes in India

Our country has suffered from some major earthquakes in the past that have led to severe damage and immense panic among people. Some of the major earthquakes experienced in India are as follows:

The Hindu Kush Earthquake (26 October 2015) : This was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that caused vast destruction in South Asia. Jammu and Kashmir in India was jolted by this quake and tremors were felt in many other parts of Northern India. With its epicentre in Afghanistan, the quake caused tremendous destruction in the country as well as in its neighbouring country Pakistan. Statistics reveal that 399 people lost their lives and as many as 2539 were injured during this earthquake.

The May 2015 Nepal Earthquake : Yet another severe earthquake in Nepal that led to havoc in India too as strong tremors were felt in various parts of our country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi. With its epicentre in Dolakha and Sindhupal Chowk, Nepal it was a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. Considered to be an aftermath of the April 2015 earthquake, it took away 218 lives and injured more than 3200 people.

The April 2015 Nepal Earthquake : This is said to be one of the major earthquakes that has ever occurred in the recent times. It was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The epicentre of this earthquake was Gorkha District in Nepal however strong tremors were felt in various parts of India too. It led to the devastation of many buildings and took as many as 9,000 lives. 22,000 people were injured during the event.

Bhuj Earthquake (26 January 2001): This was one of the most devastating natural calamities that ever hit our country. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 lasted for more than 2 minutes and wrecked havoc on the beautiful Indian state of Gujarat. Numerous buildings were devastated as a result of this earthquake. It killed around 20,000 people and injured as many as 167,000 people.

The Latur Earthquake (30 September 1993): The Latur earthquake hit the Indian state of Maharashtra. This 6.2 magnitude earthquake mainly affected the districts of Latur and Osmanabad. It demolished as many as 52 villages in Maharashtra and killed around 10,000 people. As many as 30,000 people were injured during the event.

Uttarkashi Earthquake (2 nd October 1991): The earthquake with a 6.8 magnitude hit Gharwal and Uttarkashi in Uttrakhand. Strong tremors were felt in these two regions and various other parts of Uttar Pradesh. It caused mass destruction. Numerous buildings were wrecked during the event. More than 700 people lost their lives and numerous others became homeless.

Earthquake Prone Areas in India

Almost every part of India has been hit by earthquake at some point or the other. While some areas in the country are highly prone to earthquakes others stand a low chance of being hit by them. Some of the earthquake prone areas in the country include Srinagar, Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. All these regions have felt strong tremors of earthquake in the past and stand a high chance of experiencing the same in future as well.

India has seen major destruction due to earthquakes. Many buildings have been damaged and several people have lost their lives due to this natural calamity. We wish and pray to God that such strong tremors don’t occur in future.

Long Essay on Earthquake – Essay 6 (800 Words)

An earthquake is a tremor that is produced when two surfaces of earth, underneath the surface, slip against each other and release seismic waves. Thus, an earthquake implies a sudden release of energy from within the earth, which takes the form of tremors, generally called earthquake. World over, around fifty thousand earthquakes occur annually, but only about hundred of them are potentially dangerous. Little was understood about them until the 20 th century, when Seismology was introduced as a study of earthquakes. In the following essay we will go through the causes, effects and facts about earthquakes.

Causes of Earthquakes

Earthquakes are caused by the movement or breaking of rocks underneath the surface of earth. Under earth’s surface layers of rocks stay connected to each other. The rocks or plates push each other continuously, but doesn’t move as the forces balance each other.

However, if the rocks break or layers move against each other, seismic waves are produced which reach the surface in form of tremors known as earthquake. Hence earthquake is felt as long as the rocks are rubbing against each other and ceases as soon as the rocks get stuck again. In seismic language, the point immediately below where the rocks break is called the focus and the point immediately above is called the epicenter.

Measurement

The severity of an earthquake is measured in Richter scale. A strong earthquake has a high value on Richter scale while a low earthquake has a lower value.

An earthquake which measures 6 to 7 on Richter scale is potentially damaging to life and property, while the effects of earthquake measuring 4 to 5 on Richter scale could result only in mild tremors or a little structural damage.

There are many effects of earthquake and may include the following; though, they are not limited to the effects mentioned here below-

1) Tremors or Shaking

Shaking of ground is the first effect of earthquake and is also the most damaging one. The severity of shaking; however, depends on the magnitude of earthquake and the distance of the place from the epicenter. An earthquake measuring around 6 or above on Richter scale has an ability to destroy even the most strongest of buildings, depending on their proximity to the epicenter.

2) Ground Rupture

Sometimes, an earthquake measuring high on Richter scale could cause visible rupture in the ground along the fault line. Sometimes, when the earthquake is potentially high on Richter scale, a ground rupture measuring several meters deep and several kilometers long, may result. Such ground ruptures are considerably harmful to significant structures like dams, nuclear power stations and bridges.

Earthquakes can cause forest fires, as tremors force the trees to rub each other, thereby generating heat and sparks. There have been forest fires recorded after earthquakes. Moreover, an earthquake can cause fire in urban areas also, by rupturing electrical lines and damaging electrical protection systems.

4) Landslides

Landslides are the most common aftereffects of earthquake in hilly areas. Shaking of earth displaces the soil on sloppy hills, resulting in a landslide. The landslides sometimes could be potentially more dangerous than the earthquake itself, as they contain debris like trees and rocks, and have a high potential to damage life and property.

Tsunami is the most severe and frightening aftereffect of earthquake. Tsunami is caused when the epicenter of an earthquake lies under the ocean surface. An earthquake in the sea bed results in waves those are not more than a ripple over the epicenter, but as they travel towards the shore, they get bigger, faster and stronger. A wave only measuring 1 meter above the epicenter could measure 100 meters at the shores, resulting in huge loss of life and tremendous damage to the property.

What to do in an Earthquake?

Though the science of studying earthquake has developed significantly, and today it’s possible to forecast an earthquake, even then it might not be possible in every place and situation. Below given are some of the safety precautions you could take when caught in a situation, to save yourself and family from harm.

Situation 1 – Outdoors

If you are outdoors and sense an earthquake, move away from buildings, poles, trees as fast as you can. The greatest danger is immediately outside of a building and near boundaries. When caught outside in an earthquake it’s wise to stand still on a clear ground, away from any structure that could fall upon you.

Situation 2 – Indoors

If you are caught in an earthquake inside a building, the best option for you would be to find some sturdy and strong table or bed and lie down below it, ducking your head under your arms. Stay put in this position until the tremor ceases or help arrives.

Situation 3 – Driving a Vehicle

If you are driving and sense an earthquake, then move as fast as possible from buildings and other high structures and stay inside the vehicle. Even after earthquake, proceed cautiously and avoid bridges if possible, as the tremors might have damaged them.

Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon and despite our knowledge on them, we cannot stop them from occurring; nevertheless, we can always act wisely when caught in the situation, saving our life as well as life of others.

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Paragraph on Earthquake

Students are often asked to write a paragraph on Earthquake in their schools. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 200-word, and 250-word paragraphs on the topic.

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Paragraph on Earthquake in 100 Words

An earthquake is like when the earth shakes, similar to how a table might shake if you push it. This happens because the ground we walk on is made of giant pieces, called plates. Sometimes, these plates move and bump into each other, causing the ground to shake. We call this shaking an earthquake. Earthquakes can be small and gentle, hardly felt at all, or they can be big and strong, causing buildings to fall down. It’s important to know what to do when an earthquake happens to stay safe.

Paragraph on Earthquake in 200 Words

An earthquake is a sudden shaking or trembling of the Earth. It happens when pieces of the Earth’s crust, known as tectonic plates, move and slide past each other. Imagine if you rub your hands together very fast, they become hot and shaky, right? Something similar happens beneath the Earth’s surface too. The points where these plates meet are known as fault lines and this is where earthquakes usually occur. When an earthquake happens, it can cause the ground to shake, buildings to crumble, and in some cases, it can even cause big waves in the sea, known as tsunamis. Earthquakes can be scary, but scientists are working hard to predict when they might happen to keep us safe. It’s also important for us to learn about what to do if an earthquake happens, like finding a safe spot away from windows or tall objects that might fall. Remember, during an earthquake, we must stay calm and take quick steps to stay safe.

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Paragraph on Earthquake in 250 Words

An earthquake is a sudden and violent shaking of the ground, often caused by the movement of tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface. Imagine two big pieces of rock pushing against each other until, finally, one gives way. That’s what happens during an earthquake. They can happen anywhere, at any time, and can cause great damage. The strength of an earthquake is measured by a tool called a seismograph, which uses a scale known as the Richter Scale. This scale can go from minor tremors that you might not even feel, to major quakes that can destroy entire cities. Earthquakes can cause buildings to collapse, landslides, and even tsunamis if they happen under the ocean. They can also open up big cracks in the ground. People all over the world work to predict when and where an earthquake will happen, but it is still a very hard thing to do accurately. It’s important to know what to do if an earthquake happens. If you’re indoors, stay there. Get under a desk or table and hold on, or stand against an inner wall. If you’re outside, get into an open area away from trees, buildings, walls and power lines. Following these simple steps can help keep you safe during an earthquake.

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• Earth Science

Protection Against Earthquake

Earthquakes are highly destructive natural disasters, leading to significant loss of life and extensive damage to property on a global scale each year. In response, the disaster management committee has implemented various safety measures to minimize the devastating effects of these catastrophic events. Developing effective strategies and promoting disaster management awareness is paramount in mitigating the impact of earthquakes and ensuring our safety. This article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of earthquakes, including their causes and effects, along with detailed instructions on how to respond during and after an earthquake.

What is an Earthquake?

An earthquake refers to the shaking of the earth’s surface caused by a sudden release of energy within the earth’s crust. This release of energy generates seismic waves, commonly known as S waves. The intensity and characteristics of an earthquake are determined by the seismic activities occurring in a specific region.

During an earthquake, the stored energy accumulated within the earth’s crust is suddenly released, leading to the rapid movement and displacement of rock masses along fault lines. This movement produces vibrations that propagate through the earth in the form of seismic waves. The two primary types of seismic waves are S (secondary) and P (primary) waves .

S waves, also called shear waves, travel through the earth by causing particles to move perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. These waves are responsible for the side-to-side shaking motion experienced during an earthquake. On the other hand, P waves, or compression waves, cause particles to move in the same direction as the wave propagation. P waves are the first detected during an earthquake and are responsible for the initial abrupt jolts.

Understanding the nature of earthquakes and the behaviour of seismic waves is crucial for assessing the potential risks associated with these natural disasters. It enables scientists and experts to study seismic patterns, develop early warning systems, establish building codes for earthquake-resistant structures and educate communities on preparedness and response measures.

What Causes an Earthquake?

Earthquakes occur due to sudden tectonic movements within the Earth’s crust. The Earth’s crust is divided into large sections called tectonic plates , which float on the semi-fluid layer known as the asthenosphere. These plates are constantly in motion, albeit very slowly.

When two tectonic plates interact, various types of boundaries can form, such as convergent and divergent and transform boundaries. The most powerful and destructive earthquakes typically occur at convergent boundaries, where two plates collide or slide past each other.

At a convergent boundary, one tectonic plate may be forced beneath another in a process called subduction. As the plates collide or slide past each other, immense pressure and friction build-up. Eventually, the stress becomes too great, causing the rocks along the plate boundaries to break and slip. This sudden release of stored energy generates seismic waves, resulting in an earthquake.

In addition to tectonic movements, other geological activities can also trigger earthquakes. Volcanic activity, for instance, can cause earthquakes when magma rises through the Earth’s crust, creating pressure and fracturing the rocks around the volcano. The disturbances caused by these movements and ruptures within the Earth’s crust generate vibrations that propagate in all directions, shaking the ground. These vibrations are the seismic waves that travel through the Earth and are detected by seismographs.

It’s important to note that the build-up of stress and the subsequent release of energy in the form of shock waves are the fundamental mechanisms behind earthquakes. The magnitude or strength of an earthquake is determined by the amount of energy released during this process.

Delve Deeper into the Causes of Earthquakes

We present to you an insightful video that explores the fascinating mechanisms behind seismic activity. By watching this video, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how earthquakes are caused and the factors that contribute to their occurrence.

What to do During an Earthquake?

When it comes to earthquakes, being prepared can make all the difference. Here are some essential steps to take before the disaster strikes:

Before the Earthquake

• Make Connections Flexible

Ensure that gas lines and appliances are properly installed with flexible connections. This helps prevent gas leaks and reduces the risk of fire hazards during an earthquake.

• Create an Earthquake Readiness Plan

Develop a well-thought-out plan that includes identifying a shelter area in your home. Stock up on essential supplies such as canned food, a well-stocked first aid kit, ample water, dust masks, goggles, firefighting equipment, a flashlight and a working battery-operated radio. These provisions will prove invaluable in the event of an earthquake.

• Consult Architects and Structural Engineers

Building sturdy structures is vital for minimizing earthquake damage and ensuring the safety of occupants. If you reside in an earthquake-prone area, it’s crucial to consult with architects and structural engineers before constructing buildings. They can guide you in implementing the necessary measures and adhering to regulations set by the disaster management committee.

• Spread Awareness

Share the knowledge and importance of earthquake preparedness with your friends and family. By educating those around you, you contribute to creating a safer community.

During the Earthquake

When an earthquake strikes, quick thinking and appropriate actions can save lives. Here are some important guidelines to follow:

• Stay Indoors

Remain indoors until the shaking stops and it is officially announced that it is safe to exit. Taking cover beneath a sturdy table or bed can provide vital protection against falling objects.

• Avoid Hazardous Areas

Steer clear of bookcases, heavy furniture and appliances that may topple over during the earthquake. Your safety should always be the top priority.

• Find a Safe Spot

Seek shelter under a sturdy piece of furniture, such as a table or bed. Hold on to a post or any other fixture to maintain stability and minimize the risk of injury.

• If Outdoors, Move to an Open Area

If you are outside when the earthquake occurs, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees and power lines. These objects pose a significant danger during seismic activity.

After the Earthquake

Once the earthquake subsides, it’s important to proceed with caution and take the following measures:

• Administer First Aid

Attend to individuals with minor injuries using first aid kits. For those with more severe injuries, it’s essential to wait for professional medical help and avoid moving them until it is safe.

• CPR and Rescue Breathing

If someone is not breathing, administer rescue breathing. If the person has no pulse, perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) until medical assistance arrives.

• Be Mindful of Hazards

Attend any tumbling shelves or falling items and be cautious around damaged walls made of bricks or other unstable materials. Your safety should be a priority.

• Check Gas and Power Connections

Inspect gas valves for leaks and turn off the main power switch if damage is possible. Unplug broken appliances until they can be properly repaired.

• Stay Clear of Power Lines

Keep a safe distance from downed power lines and any objects or appliances in contact with them. Electricity poses a significant risk, so exercise caution.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure your safety and the well-being of those around you during and after an earthquake. Remember, preparedness and knowledge are key to effectively managing these natural disasters. Stay informed and stay safe!

Enhancing Preparedness with Disaster Management

In times of uncertainty, being equipped with the knowledge and strategies to navigate through natural disasters is crucial. In this section, we present an insightful video that sheds light on the broader concept of disaster management and its significance during both predicted and unpredictable calamities.

What are the Effects of an Earthquake?

Earthquakes can have a wide range of effects, varying in severity depending on factors such as the quake’s magnitude, the depth of its epicentre and the local geology. Here are some of the primary effects caused by earthquakes:

• Ground Shaking: When an earthquake occurs, the release of energy creates seismic waves that cause the ground to shake. The intensity of the shaking can vary depending on factors such as the magnitude of the earthquake, the distance from the epicentre and the local geology. Areas closer to the epicentre usually experience more intense shaking, which can significantly damage structures and infrastructure.
• Damage to Man-Made Structures: One of the most noticeable effects of an earthquake is the damage it can cause to buildings, bridges, roads and other man-made structures. The shaking can lead to structural failure, collapse and extensive damage, especially if the buildings are not designed or constructed to withstand seismic activity. The severity of the damage depends on factors such as the quality of construction, adherence to building codes and proximity to the epicentre.
• Fires and Hazardous Chemical Spills: Earthquakes can trigger secondary hazards, such as fires and hazardous material spills. The violent shaking can rupture gas pipelines, damage electrical systems and disrupt infrastructure, leading to the ignition of fires. Additionally, earthquakes can cause the release of hazardous chemicals stored in industrial facilities, posing risks to human health and the environment. These secondary effects can further exacerbate the impact of an earthquake and complicate rescue and recovery efforts.
• Landslides and Avalanches: In areas with steep slopes or unstable terrain, earthquakes can trigger landslides and avalanches. The shaking can destabilize slopes, causing rocks, soil and debris to slide downhill. Landslides can damage structures, block roads and even bury entire communities, leading to additional casualties and hindering rescue and relief operations access.
• Tsunamis: Underwater earthquakes can generate tsunamis, particularly those occurring along tectonic plate boundaries. These massive ocean waves can travel long distances, reaching coastal areas and causing devastating flooding. Tsunamis pose a significant threat to coastal communities and can result in widespread destruction and loss of life.

Understanding the potential effects of earthquakes is crucial for implementing appropriate mitigation measures and developing effective disaster response plans. It is important to note that these are just some of the effects that earthquakes can have. The severity and extent of these effects depend on various factors, including the earthquake’s characteristics, the impacted area’s location and the affected communities’ preparedness and resilience.

Understanding Seismograph and the Richter scale

A seismograph and the Richter scale are essential tools used in seismology to understand and characterise earthquakes. While they are related to each other, they serve different purposes. Here’s an elaboration on the difference between a seismograph and the richter scale.

Seismograph

• A seismograph is a device used to measure and record the vibrations or ground motions caused by earthquakes. 
• It consists of a ground motion sensor, typically a mass attached to a fixed base and a recording system that captures the movements detected by the sensor. 
• Seismographs are essential in monitoring seismic activity, as they provide valuable data about the intensity, duration and frequency of ground shaking. 
• By analyzing the recorded seismograms, scientists can determine various characteristics of an earthquake, such as its magnitude, location and focal depth.
• Seismographs also detect other seismic events, such as volcanic eruptions and underground explosions.

Richter scale

• The Richter scale, developed by Charles F. Richter in the 1930s, is a numerical scale used to quantify the magnitude or strength of an earthquake.
•  It measures the energy released during an earthquake by analyzing the amplitude of seismic waves recorded on seismographs. 
• The Richter scale is logarithmic, meaning that each whole number increase on the scale corresponds to a tenfold increase in the amplitude of the seismic waves and approximately 31.6 times more energy released. For example, a magnitude six earthquake releases about 31.6 times more energy than a magnitude five earthquake. 
• The Richter scale provides a standardized measurement for consistent comparison of worldwide earthquake magnitudes.

Difference Between Seismograph and Richter scale

In summary, a seismograph is a device used to measure and record the ground motions caused by earthquakes. The Seismograph provides the data necessary to calculate the magnitude of an earthquake, which is then represented on the Richter scale. At the same time, the Richter scale is a numerical scale used to quantify the energy released during an earthquake. Together, these tools help seismologists and scientists better understand and characterise seismic events, enabling them to assess the impact and potential hazards associated with earthquakes.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

What is an earthquake.

An earthquake is shaking the Earth’s surface caused by a sudden release of energy within the Earth’s crust. It generates seismic waves, commonly known as S waves, and its intensity and characteristics are determined by the seismic activities occurring in a specific region.

What causes an earthquake?

Earthquakes occur due to sudden tectonic movements within the Earth’s crust. These movements result from interactions between tectonic plates, large sections of the Earth’s crust that float on the semi-fluid layer known as the asthenosphere. When stress along plate boundaries becomes too great, rocks along the boundaries break and slip, releasing stored energy and generating seismic waves.

What should I do during an earthquake?

It is important to take appropriate actions during an earthquake to ensure safety. Some key steps to follow include staying indoors, taking cover under a sturdy piece of furniture, avoiding hazardous areas, and, if outdoors, moving to an open area away from buildings, trees and power lines.

What should I do before an earthquake?

What are the effects of an earthquake.

Earthquakes can have various effects, including ground shaking, damage to man-made structures, fires and hazardous chemical spills, landslides and avalanches and the generation of tsunamis in coastal areas. The severity of these effects depends on factors such as the earthquake’s magnitude, depth and local geology.

What is the difference between a seismograph and the Richter scale?

A seismograph is a device used to measure and record the vibrations or ground motions caused by earthquakes. It provides the data necessary to calculate the magnitude of an earthquake. On the other hand, the Richter scale is a numerical scale used to quantify the energy released during an earthquake. It provides a standardized measurement for comparing earthquake magnitudes worldwide.

Related Topics and Educational Videos

In addition to understanding earthquakes and their impact, exploring related topics that contribute to a comprehensive understanding of natural disasters and their effects is valuable. The following collection of educational videos offers insights into various topics, including volcanic eruptions, drought and famine, types of disasters, landslides and cyclones. By watching these videos, you can broaden your knowledge and understand the interconnectedness of Earth’s natural processes.

Types of Disasters Video

Natural and Man-made Disasters

How do Volcanoes Erupt?

What causes Drought and Famine?

What causes Landslides?

What causes cyclones?

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Essay on Earthquake in English for Children and Students

Table of Contents

Essay on Earthquake: The earthquake is one of the most terrible natural disasters. Its source can be traced to the early days of earth formation. It is responsible for a great loss of life and property. It is, therefore, a great problem for mankind. The word earthquake is derived from the Greek words, ‘earth’ meaning ground and ‘quake’ meaning shaking or trembling. An earthquake, therefore, is a shaking or trembling of the earth.

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Earthquake occurs due to disturbance in the tectonic plates that lie under the surface of Earth. Earthquakes may be brief and mild or big and destructive. Our planet has suffered several severe and mild earthquakes since centuries. Earthquakes are mostly brief but can cause mass destruction within seconds. People around the world have suffered immensely due to earthquakes in the past.

Long and Short Essay on Earthquake in English

Here are essay on Earthquake of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any Earthquake essay as per you need:

Short Essay on Earthquake in 200 words

Earthquakes occur suddenly, usually without any warning signs, and can cause huge destruction. Though there is a separate branch of science referred to as seismology that study about earthquakes and tries to predicts their occurrence however, it doesn’t help in determining the exact time or date of this natural calamity.

Scientists around the world constantly try to predict the occurrence of earthquakes. While seismology department does warn against Earthquake in certain areas in future however it is unable to find out as to when exactly it would occur.

As it is said, little knowledge is dangerous hence lame predictions about earthquakes do more harm to the people than good. People begin to live in constant fear of earthquake. Panic among people living in such areas can be seen clearly as they can hardly do much about safeguarding themselves from the possible destruction caused due to this natural calamity.

However, earthquakes aren’t always severe and destructive. At times, these are small and mild. Sometimes, these are so mild that people do not even get to know that these have occurred. However, even at the slightest of tremors, it is suggested to evacuate the buildings and come out in an open area to ensure safety.

Essay on Earthquake in 300 words

Earthquakes and volcanoes are two natural calamities that occur due to the changes in the surface of Earth. Man has little or just no role in bringing about these natural disasters. Earthquakes and volcanoes are said to be interrelated. It has been observed that volcanic regions are more prone to earthquakes that often serve as a warning sign of an impending volcano.

Earthquake: Earthquake is basically the shaking of the Earth. Earthquakes either occur due to the movement of tectonic plates under the Earth’s surface or because of the movement of magma in volcanoes. The ones caused due to magma movements may be followed by volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes can be weak as well as violent. While the weak volcanoes are hardly felt, the violent ones can result in the devastation of big buildings and huge loss of life. Numerous earthquakes have occurred in different parts of the world causing severe destructions.

Volcanoes: Volcano is the eruption of hot lava from the surface of Earth. It occurs when the Earth’s crust ruptures. Hot lava, poisonous gases and volcanic ash come out by way of volcanic eruptions and can cause vast destruction. Different types of volcanoes include super volcanoes, sub-glacial volcanoes, underwater volcanoes and mud volcanoes.

What is Volcanic Earthquake?

Volcanic earthquake also known as volcano tectonic earthquake is caused due to the movement of magma. This movement exerts pressure and causes changes in the rock around the magma and this eventually leads to volcanic earthquake. These earthquakes are known to cause major destruction that may include ground deformation, uprooting of buildings and ground cracks.

Both earthquakes and volcanoes may result in severe loss for the mankind. While scientists try their best to predict both of these, they haven’t been successful in determining the time and date for these natural disasters. People living in earthquake and volcano prone areas must stay vigilant and be prepared to face these and should act calmly and wisely if such a problem occurs.

Essay on Earthquake in 400 words

Earthquakes are caused due to the movement of magnum or tectonic plates under the Earth’s surface. They may vary in severity, time and other factors. Earthquakes have been classified into various categories. The effect they cause varies based on their type.

Types of Earthquake

There are different types of earthquakes that have been experienced on our planet. Here is a look at the main types of earthquakes:

• Tectonic Earthquake: A tectonic earthquake is an outcome of the breakage of Earth’s crust because of exertion of pressure on rocks and tectonic plates.
• Aftershock: This is often a mild earthquake that takes place in the same area that has been hit by a severe earthquake few hours, days or weeks before.
• Foreshock: A small earthquake that takes place before a severe earthquake is referred to as a foreshock.
• Explosion Earthquake: This type of earthquake occurs because of explosion of a chemical and nuclear device.
• Volcanic Earthquake: It is an earthquake that occurs due to the combination of tectonic forces and volcanic activities.
• Collapse Earthquake: This type of earthquake is caused due to the explosion of rocks. These are generally mild earthquakes that occur due to mining activities.
• Submarine Earthquake: It is an earthquake that takes place underwater particularly at the bottom of an ocean. It is commonly referred to as Tsunami.

Causes of Earthquake

An earthquake basically is an outcome of the movements of tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface. However, these are also caused due to certain other reasons. These are mostly natural reasons however sometimes these can even be man-made. Given below are the various causes of earthquakes:

• Volcanic Eruptions: Volcanic eruptions are a common cause of earthquake. Areas that are faced with frequent volcanic activities are more prone to earthquakes.
• Geological Fault: It occurs because of the displacement of plates from their original position. As the rocks move alongside these planes, it brings about tectonic earthquakes.
• Human Activities: Man is known to influence various natural activities and earthquakes are no exception. Nuclear bombing, building of dams and mining are few such human activities that can cause earthquake.

Effects of Earthquake

Mild earthquakes are harmless however the violent ones can cause mass destruction. Numerous lives are lost, several people are injured and many houses and other buildings are devastated during this natural calamity.

Earthquake is a dangerous natural calamity that has caused huge damage in various parts of the world. It cannot be avoided as the scientists are not able to predict its occurrence accurately.

Also Read: Speech on Earthquake in simple and easy words

Essay on Earthquake in 500 words

Earthquake is a natural calamity which is capable of causing vast destruction and there is no way to stop it from occurring. Our planet has been hit by a number of strong earthquakes of different magnitudes that have led to the loss of many innocent lives and heavy damage to the property. A need for disaster management for earthquake was felt owing to the huge and frequent damage they had been causing around the world.

Earthquake Management

The seismic department studies earthquakes. The department monitors the environment and the activities that occurs under the Earth’s surface in an attempt to predict earthquakes and their severity. However, it has largely failed in predicting the exact date and time of occurrence of the earthquake.

Since it is almost impossible to forecast and avoid the occurrence of earthquakes, we must prepare ourselves to lower the losses caused by these. Japan for instance is highly prone to earthquakes. However, their preparedness to handle this natural calamity ensures little or no damage to property and life in the country.

The recent earthquakes that jolted India have shown how under-prepared we are to handle this natural calamity. A need to build an environment which is earthquake resistant has been felt. Though, this cannot be full proof however efforts in this direction can certainly help bring down the magnitude of losses.

Extensive research is going on in this direction. Builders are being encouraged to build earthquake resistant structures. Special degree in Earthquake Engineering is being imparted to prepare our future generations to tackle this natural disaster smartly. Structural Earthquake Engineering, Geo-technical Earthquake Engineering, Remote Sensing and Seismology are the fields that are being explored and taught.

Do not Panic during an Earthquake

It is but natural to panic during any difficult situation however doing so only worsens the problem. We must thus not panic during earthquake. We should rather act wisely. Here are few things you can do to lower the possibility of disaster:

• Come out of your house/ office/ shop and gather in an open place.
• Do not use elevator. Take the stairs to go down.
• Make sure you are at a safe place as you come out and not somewhere where there is a possibility of falling objects or collapsing building.
• Get under a table or bed if you cannot move out.
• Stay calm and don’t indulge in negative talks.
• Help those caught inside or in need if you can.

Earthquake: Precautions to be taken

People living in earthquake prone areas must stay alert and prepared to handle this natural disaster at all times. Here are certain things that they must keep handy:

• Necessary medicines
• Canned packaged food
• Camp stoves that can be installed outdoors
• Enough drinking water
• Sanitation stock
• Cash/ Debit card/ Credit Card
• Important Certificates/ documents

It is a good idea to prepare a bag that can be carried easily in case of emergency.

The government must take measures to ensure the destruction caused by this natural calamity is lowered. In case of a severe earthquake, the government must take measures to help people who lose their houses and other important belongings. The government must be prepared to handle such an emergency situation efficiently so that people do not suffer further.

Essay on Earthquake in 600 words

Earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates shift and climb over one another. This leads to mountain building referred to as orogeny which is the cause of severe earthquakes. Thus, the tectonic plates that lie under the surface of Earth are responsible for this natural calamity. Just like many other parts of the world, India has also experienced numerous earthquakes in different areas. While some of these have caused serious destruction others have largely gone unnoticed.

Major Earthquakes in India

Our country has suffered from some major earthquakes in the past that have led to severe damage and immense panic among people. Some of the major earthquakes experienced in India are as follows:

The Hindu Kush Earthquake (26 October 2015) : This was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that caused vast destruction in South Asia. Jammu and Kashmir in India was jolted by this quake and tremors were felt in many other parts of Northern India. With its epicentre in Afghanistan, the quake caused tremendous destruction in the country as well as in its neighbouring country Pakistan. Statistics reveal that 399 people lost their lives and as many as 2539 were injured during this earthquake.

The May 2015 Nepal Earthquake : Yet another severe earthquake in Nepal that led to havoc in India too as strong tremors were felt in various parts of our country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi. With its epicentre in Dolakha and Sindhupal Chowk, Nepal it was a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. Considered to be an aftermath of the April 2015 earthquake, it took away 218 lives and injured more than 3200 people.

The April 2015 Nepal Earthquake : This is said to be one of the major earthquakes that has ever occurred in the recent times. It was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The epicentre of this earthquake was Gorkha District in Nepal however strong tremors were felt in various parts of India too. It led to the devastation of many buildings and took as many as 9,000 lives. 22,000 people were injured during the event.

Bhuj Earthquake (26 January 2001): This was one of the most devastating natural calamities that ever hit our country. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 lasted for more than 2 minutes and wrecked havoc on the beautiful Indian state of Gujarat. Numerous buildings were devastated as a result of this earthquake. It killed around 20,000 people and injured as many as 167,000 people.

The Latur Earthquake (30 September 1993): The Latur earthquake hit the Indian state of Maharashtra. This 6.2 magnitude earthquake mainly affected the districts of Latur and Osmanabad. It demolished as many as 52 villages in Maharashtra and killed around 10,000 people. As many as 30,000 people were injured during the event.

Uttarkashi Earthquake (2 nd October 1991): The earthquake with a 6.8 magnitude hit Gharwal and Uttarkashi in Uttrakhand. Strong tremors were felt in these two regions and various other parts of Uttar Pradesh. It caused mass destruction. Numerous buildings were wrecked during the event. More than 700 people lost their lives and numerous others became homeless.

Earthquake Prone Areas in India

Almost every part of India has been hit by earthquake at some point or the other. While some areas in the country are highly prone to earthquakes others stand a low chance of being hit by them. Some of the earthquake prone areas in the country include Srinagar, Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. All these regions have felt strong tremors of earthquake in the past and stand a high chance of experiencing the same in future as well.

India has seen major destruction due to earthquakes. Many buildings have been damaged and several people have lost their lives due to this natural calamity. We wish and pray to God that such strong tremors don’t occur in future.

Essay on Earthquake in 800 words

An earthquake is a tremor that is produced when two surfaces of earth, underneath the surface, slip against each other and release seismic waves. Thus, an earthquake implies a sudden release of energy from within the earth, which takes the form of tremors, generally called earthquake. World over, around fifty thousand earthquakes occur annually, but only about hundred of them are potentially dangerous. Little was understood about them until the 20 th century, when Seismology was introduced as a study of earthquakes. In the following essay we will go through the causes, effects and facts about earthquakes.

Causes of Earthquakes

Earthquakes are caused by the movement or breaking of rocks underneath the surface of earth. Under earth’s surface layers of rocks stay connected to each other. The rocks or plates push each other continuously, but doesn’t move as the forces balance each other.

However, if the rocks break or layers move against each other, seismic waves are produced which reach the surface in form of tremors known as earthquake. Hence earthquake is felt as long as the rocks are rubbing against each other and ceases as soon as the rocks get stuck again. In seismic language, the point immediately below where the rocks break is called the focus and the point immediately above is called the epicenter.

Measurement

The severity of an earthquake is measured in Richter scale. A strong earthquake has a high value on Richter scale while a low earthquake has a lower value.

An earthquake which measures 6 to 7 on Richter scale is potentially damaging to life and property, while the effects of earthquake measuring 4 to 5 on Richter scale could result only in mild tremors or a little structural damage.

There are many effects of earthquake and may include the following; though, they are not limited to the effects mentioned here below-

1) Tremors or Shaking

Shaking of ground is the first effect of earthquake and is also the most damaging one. The severity of shaking; however, depends on the magnitude of earthquake and the distance of the place from the epicenter. An earthquake measuring around 6 or above on Richter scale has an ability to destroy even the most strongest of buildings, depending on their proximity to the epicenter.

2) Ground Rupture

Sometimes, an earthquake measuring high on Richter scale could cause visible rupture in the ground along the fault line. Sometimes, when the earthquake is potentially high on Richter scale, a ground rupture measuring several meters deep and several kilometers long, may result. Such ground ruptures are considerably harmful to significant structures like dams, nuclear power stations and bridges.

Earthquakes can cause forest fires, as tremors force the trees to rub each other, thereby generating heat and sparks. There have been forest fires recorded after earthquakes. Moreover, an earthquake can cause fire in urban areas also, by rupturing electrical lines and damaging electrical protection systems.

4) Landslides

Landslides are the most common aftereffects of earthquake in hilly areas. Shaking of earth displaces the soil on sloppy hills, resulting in a landslide. The landslides sometimes could be potentially more dangerous than the earthquake itself, as they contain debris like trees and rocks, and have a high potential to damage life and property.

Tsunami is the most severe and frightening aftereffect of earthquake. Tsunami is caused when the epicenter of an earthquake lies under the ocean surface. An earthquake in the sea bed results in waves those are not more than a ripple over the epicenter, but as they travel towards the shore, they get bigger, faster and stronger. A wave only measuring 1 meter above the epicenter could measure 100 meters at the shores, resulting in huge loss of life and tremendous damage to the property.

What to do in an Earthquake?

Though the science of studying earthquake has developed significantly, and today it’s possible to forecast an earthquake, even then it might not be possible in every place and situation. Below given are some of the safety precautions you could take when caught in a situation, to save yourself and family from harm.

Situation 1 – Outdoors

If you are outdoors and sense an earthquake, move away from buildings, poles, trees as fast as you can. The greatest danger is immediately outside of a building and near boundaries. When caught outside in an earthquake it’s wise to stand still on a clear ground, away from any structure that could fall upon you.

Situation 2 – Indoors

If you are caught in an earthquake inside a building, the best option for you would be to find some sturdy and strong table or bed and lie down below it, ducking your head under your arms. Stay put in this position until the tremor ceases or help arrives.

Situation 3 – Driving a Vehicle

If you are driving and sense an earthquake, then move as fast as possible from buildings and other high structures and stay inside the vehicle. Even after earthquake, proceed cautiously and avoid bridges if possible, as the tremors might have damaged them.

Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon and despite our knowledge on them, we cannot stop them from occurring; nevertheless, we can always act wisely when caught in the situation, saving our life as well as life of others.

Earthquake Information

An earthquake is a sudden shaking of the ground caused by movements in the Earth’s crust. These movements can happen when rocks underground break or slip along a fault line.

What Causes Earthquakes?

• Tectonic Plates : The Earth’s surface is made up of large pieces called tectonic plates. When these plates move and grind against each other, they can cause earthquakes.
• Volcanic Activity : Sometimes, earthquakes happen near volcanoes due to the movement of magma.

How Do We Measure Earthquakes?

• Richter Scale : Measures the strength of an earthquake. Higher numbers mean stronger earthquakes.
• Moment Magnitude Scale : More detailed, used for large earthquakes to measure their energy.

Effects of Earthquakes

• Shaking : Can cause buildings to collapse, landslides, or even tsunamis.
• Damage : Includes broken roads, destroyed homes, and sometimes injuries or loss of life.

Safety Tips

• Drop, Cover, and Hold On : Protect yourself during shaking by dropping to your knees, covering your head, and holding on to something sturdy.
• Prepare an Emergency Kit : Include water, food, and first aid supplies.
• Have a Plan : Know where to go and how to contact family members after an earthquake.

Conclusion Earthquakes are natural events that can be very powerful and destructive. Understanding them and preparing can help keep you safe and reduce damage.

Essay on Earthquake FAQs

What is called an earthquake.

An earthquake is the shaking of the ground caused by sudden movements in Earth's crust.

What makes an earthquake?

Earthquakes happen when the Earth's plates suddenly move or slide past each other, releasing energy that causes the ground to shake.

What is the topic of an earthquake?

The topic of an earthquake revolves around the shaking and vibrations in the Earth's surface caused by geological movements.

What is the meaning of earthquake in English?

Earthquake in English refers to the shaking or trembling of the ground due to geological forces.

What is the introduction of an earthquake?

An earthquake introduction would cover the basics: how it occurs due to tectonic plate movements, causing shaking or trembling of the ground.

How do you write an earthquake essay?

To write an earthquake essay, start with an introduction explaining what an earthquake is, discuss its causes, effects, and safety measures, and conclude with preventive measures.

What is an earthquake in 150 words?

An earthquake is a sudden shaking of the Earth's surface caused by movements in the Earth's crust. These movements release energy, creating seismic waves that make the ground shake, potentially causing damage to structures and landscapes. Safety measures and preparedness are crucial to mitigate the impact of earthquakes.

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10 Lines on Earthquake for Students and Children in English

10 Lines on Earthquake: An earthquake is the name given to the vibrations that we feel when the tectonic plates just under the surface of the earth shift in their positions. It refers to when the tectonic plates shift away from one another or collide into each other.

Earthquakes can be rather mild vibrations of the earth or they can even be extremely powerful and highly destructive. Many cities were known to have been destroyed by earthquakes. The mildness or extremeness of an earthquake is called its magnitude, which is measured by specialists using a seismograph. Below, there are three sets of 10 lines of earthquakes which will be useful for students who are looking to write essays or write assignments about earthquakes.

Enhance your vocabulary and writing skills with 10 Lines Essays available. Spark up the creativity in you and access various Topics on 10 Lines all in one place.

Set 1 – 10 Lines on Earthquake for kids

The following set of 10 lines on earthquakes will be useful for students and children who are in classes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

• When there is some movement of rocks under the earth’s surface, it makes strong waves which make vibrations on the earth.
• The vibrations which come from under the earth’s surface are called earthquakes and they are called seismic waves.
• The strength of an earthquake is called the magnitude in scientific terms and it is measured on the Richter scale.
• Magnitudes are measured by specialists using a device called a seismograph.
• The magnitude of an earthquake can be from 1 to 10, where 1 to 2.5 can barely be felt, but more than 7 can cause a lot of destruction.
• The lace on the earth where an earthquake originates is called the epicentre.
• The epicentre is the centre of the earthquake, while the seismic waves travel in circles around it.
• Earthquakes can cause a lot of danger, that’s why one must always be prepared for it.
• During earthquakes, we should stand in an open field so that nothing can fall on us and we are safe.
• If there are no open fields, one should bend and sit under a surface like a table to protect oneself.

Set 2 – 10 Lines on Earthquake for School Children

The following set of 10 lines on earthquakes will be useful for students who are in classes 6, 7, 8 and 9.

• Earthquakes are caused when the tectonic plates under the surface of the earth shift in their places.
• The waves created by an earthquake are called seismic waves, which are the vibrations we feel during the earthquake.
• The area where the seismic waves originate from is the epicentre, and the seismic waves follow a circular pattern around this epicentre.
• The magnitude of an earthquake denotes how powerful it was and it is generally measured on the Richter scale.
• The magnitude of an earthquake is measured using a seismograph on the Richter scale from 1 to 10.
• Earthquakes with a magnitude of 1 to 3 are considered minor and are usually very light, but are strong enough for a seismograph to catch.
• Earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 to 6.9 are considered moderate or strong, where there can be destruction caused, especially in areas with a high density of population.
• Earthquakes with a magnitude of 7 to 8 are considered major earthquakes which have the capability to topple buildings and cause other serious damage.
• Those earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.1 or more are considered to be great earthquakes and have the ability to destroy entire cities, especially towns which lie on the epicentre.
• It is important to stay safe during an earthquake to avoid any severe injuries, such as crouching under tables or evacuating to safe spaces like open fields.

Set 3 – 10 Lines on Earthquake for Higher Class Students

The following set of 10 lines on earthquakes will be useful for students who are in classes 10, 11 and 12.

• An earthquake refers to when the ground on the earth shakes as a result of the movement of tectonic plates under the crust of the earth.
• The central point where the earthquake impacts the most is called the epicentre, and the vibrations take place in a circular fashion around the epicentre.
• The vibrations or the shaking of the earth is caused by what we call seismic waves that are caused by the shaking of tectonic plates under the crust of the earth.
• The magnitude of an earthquake refers to how intense the earthquake was and it also implies how much damage it has caused at the epicentre and surrounding areas.
• The magnitude is measured on the Richter scale using a seismograph by a specialist.
• Earthquakes with a magnitude of 1 to 3 are considered to be relatively minor, those with a magnitude of 3.1 to 6.9 are considered moderate or strong, while any earthquakes with a magnitude higher than 7 are considered to be strong and highly destructive.
• It is incredibly necessary to take all the necessary security measures when an earthquake takes place, such as assembling in an open ground or crouching under tables to ensure that no heavy objects fall upon us.
• There are several earthquake hazards such as displacement of the ground and the falling of buildings, trees, light poles, etc. due to the pressure, flooding in case a dam or levee breaks due to the seismic waves, and fires caused by gas lines which may break.
• It is important to be aware of the various hazards that an earthquake can bring, and also take the appropriate safety measures during earthquakes, such as assembling in an open field or hiding underneath solid and stable furniture such as a desk or bed so as to prevent any objects falling on you.
• The worst earthquake in the history of the world is called the Valdivia Earthquake, which took place near Chile in the year 1960, and had a magnitude of 9.5, killing nearly 5700 people and leaving a million homeless.

Read More: Essay On Fire Safety

Frequently Asked Questions on Earthquake

Question 1. What does magnitude mean?

Answer: Magnitude is the word we use when referring to the ‘size’ of an earthquake, and it based on the measurement of the rigour of the earthquake provided by a seismograph. Magnitude is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, where magnitudes of 1 to about 2.5 can hardly be felt, but are yet recorded by a seismograph. Earthquakes with magnitudes 3 to 7 are moderate and strong and can cause severe amounts of damage. Earthquakes above the magnitude of 8, and especially 9, are disastrous and can bring long-term destruction of the epicentre and its surrounding areas.

Question 2. What are some earthquakes which caused a lot of destruction?

Answer: The Valdivia Earthquake of 1960 took place in Chile. It had a magnitude of 9.5, had 5700 casualties and many more injured, and it rendered 1 million people homeless.

The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake in Southern Alaska had a magnitude of 9.2 and 131 people died, while damages incurred crossed 300 million dollars at the time. The Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004 was coupled with the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, with a magnitude of 9.1 and 227898 deaths along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

Question 3. What is a seismograph?

Answer: A seismograph is a device which is used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. It is also called a seismometer.

Question 4. What is a tectonic plate?

Answer: The crust of the earth is divided into several tectonic plates, which are small layers of the upper mantle of the earth. As these tectonic plates collide, they create mountains, and as they separate, they create canals, canyons, etc. and when there is a movement in these plates, the surface of the earth shakes as what we call an earthquake.

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Essay On Earthquake For Kids – 10 Lines, Short And Long Essay

Key Points To Remember When Writing An Essay On Earthquake For Lower Primary Classes

10 lines on earthquake for kids, a paragraph on earthquake for kids, short essay on earthquake for kids, long essay on earthquake for children, what will your child learn from an essay on earthquake, interesting facts about earthquakes for children.

Essay writing is a vital skill to be acquired by children, requiring them to research topics to increase their knowledge. Essay writing also improves their communication skills. Earthquakes are a natural disaster that most students are familiar with. Writing an essay on earthquakes in English allows them to know many things like why earthquakes happen, how are they measured on the Richter scale, and most importantly, their after-effects. Some earthquakes have been so disastrous that they have caused considerable losses to life and property. Below are some points that will help your kid write a good  essay on earthquakes for classes 1, 2 and 3 kids.

Earthquake is an excellent essay topic because it teaches children about various geographical elements. However, specific considerations should be made when writing an earthquake essay in English, such as:

• Begin with an introductory paragraph that provides general information about earthquakes, such as what they are and what causes them.
• The body should be divided into paragraphs, each focusing on a different aspect. You can include information such as types of earthquakes. its causes, and effects.
• Conclude the essay with a final paragraph that summarises the entire essay in a few lines.

An essay on earthquakes is a very interesting topic for kids as it increases their knowledge and makes children aware of the world around them. The following 10 lines on earthquakes can guide students as to how to write clear sentences and make a good  essay for classes 1 and 2:

• An earthquake is a natural disaster.
• They occur when some tricks move under the Earth’s surface, causing vibrations or seismic waves.
• Due to this, we can feel the entire ground shaking below our feet. This can cause buildings, trees and other tall structures to break and fall.
• The strength or intensity of an earthquake is called its magnitude and it is measured on the Richter scale from 1 to 10.
• Earthquakes can be measured using a seismograph.
• Earthquakes of 6 or 7 magnitude are very strong and can cause massive loss of life and property.
• The exact spot where an earthquake originates is called its epicentre. This place faces the maximum effect of the disaster.
• People living in earthquake-prone areas must always be prepared to face the danger and have a disaster management strategy as it is difficult to predict an earthquake.
• The best way to ensure safety during an earthquake is to run to open fields.
• If there is no open space nearby, you can duck under a strong and sturdy table.

Short paragraphs on earthquakes help students to weave their essays around them. They guide the children on how to form sentences. A short paragraph on earthquakes is given below for the reference of the kids:

Earthquakes are caused by the shaking of the earth, which occurs when two of the earth’s tectonic plates slide over each other. These can be caused by natural factors such as volcanic eruptions or man-made factors such as mining or the construction of various structures. Some earthquakes have little or no effect, while others cause widespread devastation. There have been numerous earthquakes in the past that have resulted in significant loss of life and property. During an earthquake, it is recommended that we run out of our home and move to an open and safe location. We cannot predict earthquakes, but we can ensure safety with proper precautions.

Learning how to write a  short essay on natural disasters like an earthquake helps students gain awareness of various geographical phenomena and enhances their knowledge. Since earthquakes are a common phenomenon, knowing about them is crucial. Given below is an example of a short essay for classes 1, 2 and 3:

An earthquake is a natural disaster which is caused by the shaking of the earth. The main reason for this is the movement of tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are fragments of the earth’s surface plates that float in the core. When these plates begin to drift away from each other or begin to slide towards each other, tremors occur, resulting in earthquakes. An earthquake can also be induced by a volcanic eruption or man-made factors such as mining and the construction of concrete structures. It can also cause fires, tsunamis, and other natural disasters.

Areas closer to the continental shelf, such as Mumbai, Srinagar, Kolkata, and Chennai, are more vulnerable to earthquakes. The impact of an earthquake on a location is determined by how far it is from the epicentre. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the Richter scale. Higher magnitude events are less common but cause more damage to people and property.

Earthquakes sometimes cause a huge loss of life and property, making it essential for children to learn about them. Writing an essay on earthquakes makes them aware of its causes, effects and even precautions that one should take. Given below is a long essay for class 3 that can help students learn more about this natural calamity:

What Is An Earthquake?

An earthquake is the movement within the earth’s crust due to the sudden release of energy from the earth’s interior. It results in massive loss of lives and affects that area’s infrastructure. The damage caused depends on the intensity of the earthquake.

What Are The Types Of Earthquakes?

Earthquakes can be categorised into four types based on the cause of occurrence:

• Tectonic Earthquakes:  These earthquakes occur when the floating tectonic plates on the earth’s core either move away from each other or slip towards each other, causing friction. As a result, pressure from the ground is released, causing tremors.
• Volcanic Earthquakes:  Volcanic eruptions cause these earthquakes. Magma movement causes pressure and changes in the rock surrounding the magma, resulting in earthquakes.
• Collapse Earthquakes:  These are low-intensity earthquakes caused primarily by mining. Underground blasts in mines are a major cause of mine collapse, resulting in collapse earthquakes.
• Explosive Earthquakes:  These earthquakes are typically caused by explosions caused by nuclear bomb testing.

What Are The Causes Of Earthquakes?

An earthquake is a natural disaster; hence, it is generally caused naturally. However, there are undoubtedly other reasons too that can cause earthquakes like:

• Volcanic Eruptions:  Volcanic earthquakes are the result of volcanic eruptions. It’s a common cause of earthquakes, and areas with active volcanos are more vulnerable to such earthquakes.
• Human Activities:  Natural and man-made activities can both cause earthquakes. Human activities that can cause earthquakes include the construction of concrete structures, mining, and nuclear bombing.
• Geological Factors: These occur when tectonic plates shift away from their original position, causing friction and, as a result, earthquakes.

What Are The Effects Of Earthquakes?

An earthquake has numerous effects, such as:

• Death and property destruction is one of the effects of an earthquake. On the other hand, the magnitude of the destruction is determined by the magnitude of the earthquake and its distance from the epicentre.
•  Earthquakes can also spark fires in electric and gas pipelines, resulting in huge losses.
• Tsunamis are sometimes caused by an earthquake, causing even more damage to people and property.
• Earthquakes can also cause large structures and monuments to collapse, causing irreparable damage.
• Landslides are another significant impact of earthquakes. Landslides, which result in the fall of large rocks, are common in hilly areas. They can also cause traffic congestion.

Precautions To Be Taken During An Earthquake

Even though earthquakes are not predictable, there are certain precautions that we can take to lessen their impact, such as:

• Avoid enclosed spaces:  Get out of your building as soon as you feel a tremor and find an open space.
• Avoid using the lift:  It is always advisable to avoid using the lift while evacuating the building during an earthquake because it can be dangerous.
• Avoid trees and lampposts:  If you’re driving, never park your car and stand beneath a tree or a lamppost because the earthquake could cause it to fall.
• If you cannot move, try crouching beneath a sturdy table or bed to protect yourself from falling objects.

This earthquake essay will give your child a general understanding of the subject while also making them aware of their surroundings. It will also help kids learn about the precautions to take during an earthquake, so they know what they should to if it happens again.

Some of the interesting facts about earthquakes for children are:

• Earthquakes can occur for natural or man-made reasons.
• An earthquake cannot be predicted in advance.
• Seismology is the study of earthquakes. The Richter scale is a device used to measure earthquake intensity.
• The greater the intensity on the Richter scale, the more severe the damage.
• Earthquakes can be so devastating that they can cripple an entire economy.

1. Can We Forecast Earthquakes?

No. No such technology has allowed seismologists to predict an earthquake in advance.

2. How Is Earthquake Measures?

The intensity of an earthquake is measured on a Richter scale.

3. Which Are The Earthquake Prone Areas In India?

Several earthquake-prone areas in India include Srinagar, Mumbai, Patna, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Pune, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Earthquakes are major natural disasters that have caused irreparable damage in the past and will do so in the future. We cannot prevent them, but we can aim to mitigate their effects with proper precautions.

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10 Lines on Earthquake

An earthquake or sometimes called as quake or tremors is a sudden violent shaking of earth which proves to be very devastating as it collapses the building and destroys whole geographical area.

Earthquake is so strong phenomena that it can take so many lives in one go. Earthquake contrary to other natural calamities like floods and drought is sudden activity which doesn’t give us time to get alert causing maximum causalities at a time.

There is no place in the entire world which is not prone to earthquakes. The range of an earthquake can be mild or can be very extreme which can destroy whole area and can take many lives.

Ten Lines on Earthquake in English

We have provided 10 lines, 5 lines, 20 lines, few lines and sentences on Earthquake in English for Class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. You can add these lines in your essays and paragraph writing in your exams as well as in the school competitions. It will also be very helpful to write few lines, some sentences, facts about Earthquake, etc.

1) Earthquake is the shaking movement of the earth’s surface which creates seismic waves.

2) It is a sudden and violent shaking which causes disaster.

3) The shocks we receive in earthquake arise from deep inside the earth.

4) Earthquake can originate at any point of the earth crust and can cause damage.

5) A huge energy is released which crosses through the rocks and comes to earth surface.

6) Magnitude of earthquake originated at a point is measured by Richter’s scale.

7) Intensity of earthquake which has affected the places is measured by Mercalli scale.

8) Generally, the first shock of earthquake is heavy which is called as main shock.

9) After the main shock the tremors which come have low density called as aftershock.

10) Earthquake is very disastrous in nature as it can take millions of lives in one go.

10 Lines and Sentences on Earthquake

1) Earthquake is a natural calamity which can occur at any moment of time and at anywhere on the earth’s surface.

2) Comparison to other natural calamities, earthquake is the most powerful and strong calamity which can destroy a big area.

3) Earthquake has a long and devastating history from the ancient times and the irregularity of its occurrence makes it more fearful.

4) If we talk about earth, earth crust consists of various unparallel solid rocks which slowly move deep inside.

5) The surfaces on which entire world stays are called plates and those plates collide with each other and produce earthquake.

6) The field of science in which earthquakes are studied is ‘seismology’ and it also determines the intensity and magnitude of earthquake.

7) Volcanic eruption which releases lava, gases, etc which creates pressure and imbalance inside earth may also result in earthquakes.

8) In order to save from earthquake, one should remain inside or outside house but should not stand close to building, lampposts, windows, etc.

9) People should stand close to the wall or they can hide themselves by entering inside any furniture like bed, chair, table, etc.

10) During earthquake always use stairs to escape from the building and come to open space; do not use lift.

5 Lines on Earthquake

1) Earthquakes are unequal earth tremors.

2) It is a deadly natural occurrence.

3) Richter scale measures earthquakes.

4) Japan regularly experiences earthquakes.

5) During earthquakes, we should shield our heads and neck.

20 Lines on Earthquake

1) Earthquake is a natural occurrence creating seismic waves and causing the shaking of earth’s surface.

2) The intensity of earthquakes is measured in Richter scale developed by Charles F. Richter.

3) Earthquakes range from low intensity to powerful enough to demolish buildings and kill cause panic.

4) Earthquake with its epicenter beneath sea bed, triggers large destructive waves called Tsunami.

5) Earthquakes are mainly caused by the rupture of geological faults, landslides, mine blasts etc.

6) Point of rupture below the ground which triggers an earthquake is called the focus or hypocenter.

7) Epicenter of an earthquake is the point at the earth surface directly above the hypocenter.

8) Three main types of faults causing earthquakes are – normal, reverse (thrust) and strike slip.

9)  Seismometer is the device used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake.

10) Earthquake becomes more destructive when the epicenter is beneath the sea bed.

11) The fastest earthquake wave which arrives first is called the P wave or compressional wave.

12) The deepest earthquakes typically occur at an approximate depth of 750 Km (400 miles).

13) During an earthquake soft ground shakes more than the hard rock, a claim proved by Aristotle.

14) Earthquakes are mainly caused due to shifting masses of rock, miles below the surface of earth.

15) Earthquake waves cannot be heard by humans as they have an inaudible frequency of less than 20Hz.

16) Shaking of ground doesn’t cause loss of life, rather the destruction of manmade structures cause it.

17) Millions of earthquakes occur around the world annually, which are too weak to be recorded.

18) Around 80% of the world’s earthquakes occur along the Pacific Rim called the “Ring of Fire”.

19) Largest earthquake by magnitude 9.5 was recorded in Chile on 22 nd May 1960.

20) Alaska is the world’s most seismically active and earthquake prone area with annual earthquakes.

Earthquakes came in to existence since the time earth was created. There are many incidents of earthquakes in the world where the death toll was extremely high. India is also not unaffected of earthquakes, be it Latur in Maharashtra in 1993 or 2001 earthquakes in Bhuj, Gujarat.

In 2015, Nepal received the serious jolts of earthquakes claiming thousands of lives. We must take several measures and make our homes, buildings and cities in a scientific way to protect ourselves from aftermath of earthquake.

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CBSE 2025: Class 10, 12 Sample Papers Expected Soon, Major Changes In Exam Pattern Unveiled

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is expected to release the sample papers for the Class 10 and 12 Board Exams 2024-25 soon. The board exams for this academic year are scheduled to commence on February 15, 2025.

These sample papers are crucial as they provide insights into the type of questions that students might encounter, as well as the overall paper pattern for the exams. With the recent changes in the paper pattern for Class 12, many students, parents, and teachers are eagerly anticipating the release of the official sample papers.

In previous years, CBSE has typically released the sample papers for both Class 10 and 12 by July. However, this year, the delay has caused some anxiety among teachers and parents who are keen to help students prepare effectively. According to Times Now, the board is expected to release the sample papers shortly. While waiting, here's a brief overview of the expected paper patterns for the 2025 board exams for Classes 10 and 12.

CBSE Class 10 Sample Papers - Exam Pattern

For the Class 10 Board Examinations 2025, the paper pattern remains unchanged from the previous year. The syllabus has also not been revised, which means that the 2024 sample papers can still serve as a reference for students. Despite some rumours about an increase in multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to 50 per cent, the official paper pattern clarifies that only 20 per cent of the questions will be MCQs. Additionally, 50 per cent of the questions will be competency-based, which may include MCQs as well as other formats.

Since there have been no changes to the paper pattern, the structure of the questions is expected to remain consistent. Based on the 2024 sample papers, students can anticipate approximately 20 MCQs per subject. For those seeking further guidance, previous years' sample papers are available on the official CBSE academic website at cbseacademic.nic.in.

It's important to note that while the basic structure of the paper has not changed, the total number of questions may vary. Therefore, it's advisable for students to wait for the official 2025 sample papers before investing in any new study materials.

CBSE Class 12 Sample Papers - Exam Pattern

The paper pattern for the Class 12 Board Examinations 2025 has undergone significant changes, as announced in a circular released by CBSE on April 3, 2024. The most notable change is the increase in competency-based questions, which will now account for 50 per cent of the paper's weightage, up from 40 per cent in the previous year. While the proportion of MCQs will remain unchanged, the percentage of short and long-answer-type questions will decrease from 40 per cent to 30 per cent.

These changes are likely to affect the overall structure of the question papers. Although the CBSE has not yet provided an official release date for the sample papers, they are expected to be available by the first week of September.

The topic-wise weightage will remain the same, ensuring continuity in the areas of focus for students. Parents and students are advised to keep a close watch on the official CBSE website and cbseacademic.nic.in for the latest updates.

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