for schools > earthquakes

Introduction to earthquakes (1)

Many early cultures believed that earthquakes were caused by the movement of a giant animal (a frog, turtle, lama or several elephants depending upon the society) on whose back the Earth rests. There are also records of earthquakes in China dating as far back as 1177 BC, and the first seismoscope was invented in China in 132 AD. However, it is only as recently as the beginning of the last century that scientists began to understand the mechanisms that cause earthquakes.

These pages will introduce you to the following:

• plate tectonics and faults
• the earthquake cycle
• the elastic rebound theory

for schools > earthquakes