Did you know that a seismograph is used to measure an earthquake?

 Did you know that when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another it creates what is know as a earthquake?

Did you know that the surface where they slip occurs is called the fault or fault plane?

Did you know that the location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter?

Did you know that foreshocks are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake?

Did you know that the largest, main earthquake is called the mainshock?

Did you know that aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that occur afterwards in the same place as the mainshock?

Did you know that the earth has four major layers: the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust?

covering the surface of the earth?

Not only that, but these puzzle pieces keep slowly moving around, sliding past one another and bumping into  each other. We call   these puzzle pieces tectonic plates, and the edges of the plates are called the plate boundaries. The plate boundaries are made up of many faults, and most of the earthquakes around the world occur on these faults. Since the edges of the plates are rough, they get stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. Finally, when the plate has moved far enough, the edges unstick on one of the faults and there is an earthquake.

 

While the edges of faults are stuck together, and the rest of the block is moving, the energy that would normally cause the blocks to slide past one another is being stored up. When the force of the moving blocks finally overcomes the friction of the jagged edges of the fault and it unsticks, all that stored up energy is released. The energy radiates outward from the fault in all directions in the form of seismic waves like ripples on a pond. The seismic waves shake the earth as they move through it, and when the waves reach the earth’s surface, they shake the ground and anything on it, like our houses and us!

Did you know that size of an earthquake depends on the size of the fault and the amount of slip on the fault?

 Did you know that a seismograph is used to measure an earthquake? 

Did you know that the seismogram recordings made on the seismographs at the surface of the earth to determine how large the earthquake was?

Did you know that a short wiggly line that doesn’t wiggle very much means a small earthquake, and a long wiggly line that wiggles a lot means a large earthquake?

Did you know that the length of the wiggle depends on the size of the fault, and the size of the wiggle depends on the amount of slip?

Did you know that the size of the earthquake is called its magnitude? 

Did you know that there is one magnitude for each earthquake?

Did you know that scientists use a method called triangulation to determine exactly where the earthquake was?

Did you know that scientists have tried many different ways of predicting earthquakes, but none have been successful?

Did you know that the seismograph has a base that sets firmly in the ground, and a heavy weight that hangs free?

Did you know that Earthquakes are recorded by instruments called seismographs?

Did you know that the recording a earthquake  make is called a seismogram?

Did you know that when an earthquake causes the ground to shake, the base of the seismograph shakes too, but the hanging weight does not?

Did you know that the spring or string that it is hanging absorbs all the movement?

Did you know that the difference in position between the shaking part of the seismograph and the motionless part is what is recorded?

 Now if you didn't know, now you know..



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Did you know that the crust and the top of the mantle make up a thin skin on the surface of our planet?

Did you know that this skin is not all in one piece – it is made up of many pieces like a puzzle