what are earthquakes and tsunamis?

Question 1

Where does most seismic activity occur?

Answer 1

On plate boundaries, West America, Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand

Question 2

What is an earthquake?

Answer 2

Earthquakes are vibrations in the earths crust that cause shaking at the surface

Question 3

Are earthquakes predictable?

Answer 3

They are highly unpredictable and often occur suddenly without warning. We also have no way of fully and accurately predicting when an earthquake will occur

Question 4

are earthquakes common?

Answer 4

they are common events on earth with around 50,000 occurring every year around the globe mainly on the plate margins

Question 5

Do we know where an earthquake will happen?

Answer 5

Although we cant predict earthquakes we do know where most earthquakes will occur, and they tend to coincide with destructive conservative, collisional and constructive plate margins

Question 6

What is a Tsunami?

Answer 6

Tsunamis are also called seismic sea waves whereas most waves that we experience day to day are created by both gravitational pull of the moon on the sea and wind acting upon the sea, tsunamis have other causes

Question 7

What are tsunamis created by?

Answer 7

They are created by landslides, underwater volcanoes and more commonly underwater earthquakes

Question 8

How does a tsunami form?

Answer 8

Generally for a tsunami to happen we need two plates grinding past one another. Friction causes stress and strain energy to build up and when a critical point is reached a massive earthquake occurs. The movement of the seabed upwards displaces billions of tonnes of water above it some sea floor falls and water rushes in to replace it. The uplifted water collapses and rushes out radially outwards at a thousand km per hour