Natural Disaster

An earth quake can be described as a shaking of the Earth’s crust. It is mainly a movement of the whole crust that originates in the center of the earth. Earthquakes happen when the underlying rock suddenly shakes or breaks off. The moving of the underlying rock causes the surface rocks to slide and, as a result, leads to the earthquakes. Earthquakes can be extremely disastrous and cause a lot of damage in the place where they happen. The earthquake can happen once or happen as a series. This depends on the magnitude of the earthquake. There are other tremors that can cause an earthquake, for instance, nuclear bombs. These cannot be considered as earthquakes, as they are not naturally triggered (Coffey, 2010).
The earthquake can be grouped into three stages. There is the foreshock, which come first. These can be termed as tremors that are slight and may, or may not cause a lot of effects on the ground. The foreshocks are then followed by the mainshock. The mainshock is the most disastrous. The main shock is later followed by the aftershock. Aftershocks are smaller compared to the foreshock and mainshocks. The magnitude of the earthquake determines how long the earthquake will take before it settles. History has recorded that earthquakes can take several years before they stop.
What causes the Earthquake?
According to an article by Coffey, earthquakes are caused by movement of the tectonic plates, which slide towards each other or away from each other. Tectonic plates usually lie parallel and in layers. The tectonic plate movement often leaves faults that split the ground. San Andreas Fault is a famous fault in California, which has been known to be a cause of many subsequent earthquakes (Lassieur, 2001).
The other causes of earthquakes are volcanic movements. The volcanic earthquakes happen less often compared to the tectonic plate movement. The volcanic earthquake happens when a volcanic eruption takes place. While the magma is coming out, the rocks