45 Interesting Facts About Earthquakes
The main reason behind earthquakes is the movement of plate tectonics in the earth’s crust. Naturally, earthquakes can also occur with volcanic eruptions. Every year, around 500,000 earthquakes occur on earth . But most of these have very low intensity, and only 100,000 are noticeable. Severe earthquakes cause material damage and loss of life on a large scale. These destructions are not always directly caused by earthquakes but instead by natural disasters triggered by these quakes. Tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, flooding, liquefaction, avalanches, and landslides are deadly natural disasters caused by earthquakes. ( Source ) In the East African Rift System (EARS), the tectonic plates continuously try to create new plates by splitting the old ones. It is a rare example of an active continental rift zone. ( Source ) Earthquakes produce massive energy. An earthquake of magnitude 9 is equivalent to 99 million tons of TNT . It is the energy produced by 25,000 nuclear bombs