Earthquakes- What Are They?

Earthquakes are the result shifting plates in the crust of Earth. When there is frictional stress building of the plates it causes failure at a fault line an earthquake happens.  The shaking of the ground happens when the energy is released, and waves radiate.  Research has found that they predict where major seismic activity may happen, but they cannot forecast the specific location or timing of the quake.  Entire cities have been leveled during a major earthquake and some have generated tsunamis.   Some minor shaking of the earth may be induced by human activities like removing minerals from the ground and when a large building is leveled.

According to researchers the earth’s rotation is slowing down and because of this there may be more earthquakes in 2019.  They found that more earthquakes happen during this slow down about every 32 years and can last up to 5 years.  Researcher found that after this slow down there were about 15 to 20 quakes that registered 7 or higher per year.  The change in the planet’s rotation speed has a tendency to cause the planet to contract, which makes it more susceptible pressure to the fault plates.