Earthquake

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/earthquake

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the largest recorded earthquake?Magnitude 9.5 (Mw), Valdivia, Chile, May 22, 1960
2. What is the induced seismicity?Earthquakes triggered by human activities such as mining, fracking, and underground explosions
3. What causes an earthquake?Earthquakes happen when the Earth's tectonic plates move and get stuck. When the stress builds up, the plates suddenly slip, releasing energy that shakes the ground.
4. How do scientists measure how strong an earthquake is?Scientists use scales like the Richter scale and the moment magnitude scale to measure how much energy an earthquake releases. The bigger the number, the stronger the quake.

Lithosphere: The rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Elastic-Rebound Theory: The theory explaining how energy is released during an earthquake when stressed rocks suddenly break and snap back.
Seismicity: The frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced in a particular area over time.