What are fault lines?

Fault lines are hidden cracks deep inside the Earth that help explain why the ground sometimes shakes or even moves apart.

Imagine you have a big chocolate bar made up of different pieces, each piece is like a piece of Earth, and where they meet is like a fault line. Now, if you push on either end of the chocolate bar, it might break or shift, just like how the ground can move when there’s a shake.

Fault lines are like secret highways that rocks can slide along deep underground. When the rocks on either side of a fault line suddenly move, it makes a shake, which we feel as an earthquake.

Think about pushing your toy car across the floor, if you give it a big push and it suddenly moves, that’s kind of like what happens with the Earth!

Sometimes, these movements can be so strong they make mountains or valleys, just like when you press on clay and it changes shape.