
Earthquakes Fast Facts
CNN
View Earthquake Fast Facts from CNN and learn more about earthquakes worldwide.
The US Geological Survey describes an earthquake as "the ground shaking caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the sides of the fault together. Stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake." Earthquakes are measured using seismographs, which monitor the seismic waves that travel through the Earth after an earthquake strikes.More Related News