What are Earthquakes

An earthquake is the sudden and sometimes very violent release of energy from the movement of the earth surface. The surface is comprised of pates called tectonic plates. these plates are constantly moving into each other. As the pressure from them pushing on each other builds up, one of the plates has to give into the pressure. It can move up or down, or to one side or the other. As they are moving and pushing and rubbing against each other, the rest of the earth shakes causing things on the earth to break and crumble. The image to the right shows where the most threat of earthquakes are most likely in the United States, the darker the color, the higher the threat

What are Earthquakes