what is an earthquake
Answers
Answer:
An earthquake is an intense shaking of Earth’s surface. The shaking is caused by movements in Earth’s outermost layer.
Explanation:
For extra information:
Why Do Earthquakes Happen?
Although the Earth looks like a pretty solid place from the surface, it’s actually extremely active just below the surface. The Earth is made of four basic layers: a solid crust, a hot, nearly solid mantle, a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. Earthquakes are caused by shifts in the outer layers of Earth—a region called the lithosphere. The solid crust and top, stiff layer of the mantle make up a region called the lithosphere. The lithosphere isn’t a continuous piece that wraps around the whole Earth like an eggshell. It’s actually made up of giant puzzle pieces called tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are constantly shifting as they drift around on the viscous, or slowly flowing, mantle layer below. Earth's crust is fractured into tectonic plates that have been moving very slowly over the Earth's surface for millions of years.
This non-stop movement causes stress on Earth’s crust. When the stresses get too large, it leads to cracks called faults. When tectonic plates move, it also causes movements at the faults. An earthquake is the sudden movement of Earth’s crust at a fault line.
Answer:
an earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves.