 Why do earthquakes occur? Scientists believed that the
movement of the Earth's plates bends and squeezes the rocks at the edges of
the plates. Sometimes this bending and squeezing puts great pressure on the
rocks. Rocks are somewhat elastic, they can be bent without breaking. Have
you ever stretched a rubberband? You know if you increase the tension too
much though, the rubberband will snap!! Rock layers act somewhat the same way,
if the pressures becomes too great the rock layer will break and move. When
this occurs the layers will move along a crack in the Earth's crust called a
fault or the release of energy will cause a new faultline to be
produced. This rupture of the rocks and the resulting movement causes an
earthquake.
Click on the "Next" button to see a fault line.
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