An earthquake (also known as a quake or tremor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth which has resulted from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. The ground starts to quiver, glasses rattle; Telltale signs of what could be a devastating earthquake. The stronger and shallower the quake, the more violent the destruction. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air and wreak destruction across entire cities. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over a particular time period.
Vocabulary:
• Beneath (preposition): Under or below something, such as layers of the Earth.
• Slabs (noun): Large, rigid pieces of the Earth's lithosphere that move and interact at plate boundaries.
• To shift (verb): To move or change position, often referring to tectonic plate movement.
• To bump (verb): To collide or make contact, causing a disturbance, like tectonic plates interacting.
• To grind (verb): To rub or move with friction, often describing the interaction between tectonic plates along faults.
• Seams (noun): Lines or zones where geological formations or faults meet, often points of earthquake activity.
• To ripple (verb): To move in waves, as seismic waves do through the Earth.
• Downward (adjective/adverb): Moving towards a lower level, such as one tectonic plate moving beneath another.
• Upward (adjective/adverb): Moving towards a higher level, like the Earth's crust rising during an earthquake.
• Mantle (noun): The semi-solid layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.
• To jut (verb): To extend out or project, as geological features or faults might do.
Source: National Geographic Youtube channel.