7. Earthquakes

Today's blog is on Earthquakes. Earthquakes are like a scary person in your street that you never want to meet. Everything is going well and then they turn up out of nowhere and ruin everything.

Like aurora australis, earthquakes are hard to predict when and where they will strike. Earthquakes are a natural process and most are so small that you don't notice them. Over time, Earthquakes form mountains and ridges. Larger earthquakes cause real damage. They shake unstable structures until they fall apart.

Earthquakes happen when the tectonic plates of the Earth rub against each other. This causes stress to build up inside the tectonic plates. The stress is released in a violent rumble. Most earthquakes only last for one to two minutes, others last for more than five minutes! The longest earthquake was 10 minutes long!

The epicentre of an earthquake is where the earthquake started. For example, the great Victorian earthquake's epicentre was in near Mansfield. The epicentre of the strongest earthquake (the Valdivia earthquake) was near Lumaco, Chile.

Earthquakes can trigger other natural disasters, such as tsunamis (if they are underwater), floods, sea level rise, and even hurricanes and ice storms! So if you hear a slight rumble from the sea, or if the tide goes out quickly... run!

Earthquakes are rated in a scale called The Richter scale. It measures in magnitudes that go from 0.1 to 10! Our Victorian earthquake was 5.9, and it did nothing but a slight tremor. but one in Norway there was an earthquake that was 6.0 and most buildings collapsed. The difference was because of both the ground conditions and the stability of the structures, mainly the ground.

Watch this video to learn about the top five most powerful earthquakes caught on camera. While you are on YouTube, pay a visit to Give Me Space Henry Perraton and subscribe.

Until next time, Give me Earth!!

Henry