Earthquakes happen when parts of the ground suddenly move because of pressure building up underground.
Imagine you're playing with blocks on a table. You push them together until they’re tight, and then, snap!, one side slides past the other. That’s like what happens deep inside the Earth.
Like a Slinky® Toy
Think about a Slinky toy. When you stretch it out and let go, it bounces down the stairs. The ground is like that Slinky, when pressure builds up between pieces of land called plates, they suddenly move past each other, sending waves through the Earth.
Why It Shakes
These moving parts send shaking all the way to the surface. That shaking is what we feel as an earthquake, it's just like when you shake a jar of beans and they all jump around inside!
Sometimes the ground even cracks open or buildings sway, but it’s all just the Earth letting out a big “Whoa!” after holding in its pressure for a while.
Examples
- A child asks, 'Why does the ground shake?'
- A teacher explains earthquakes using a simple model.
- A cartoon shows two plates colliding.
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See also
- What are convergent plate boundaries?
- How Do Earthquakes Actually Happen?
- What are tectonic forces?
- How Does Volcanoes & Earthquakes: How Tectonic Plates Shape Our Planet Work?
- How Does Ring of Fire | Volcanoes, Earthquakes Work?