EarthquakesWhat are earthquakes? Earthquakes are sudden and violent shaking/tremors of the ground. Sometimes earthquakes can be so small that no one feels them. But other times, earthquakes are so large that they can kill thousands of people and cause tons of destruction. “An earthquake occurs when two blocks of earth slide past each other.” http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php (The surface they slipped on is called a fault or fault plane.) There are many different outcomes of earthquakes. Most damage from earthquakes is caused by strong shaking from seismic waves. “The tremors could be violent and long-lasting enough to collapse weak buildings, overturn furniture, topple water heaters and storage tanks, and collapse unsafe dams.” http://library.thinkquest.org/28238/results.htm These effects can cause further consequences, such as falling electrical cables, fires, loss of water to fight fires, oil spills, ruptures in gas mains, etc. . Earthquakes affect people in many different ways. They cause fires that raze buildings and sometimes wipe out entire cities. This affects you and me because, if you live in that city, you won't have a place to live or that might be the building you work in, so now you're out of a job. When there are earthquakes, they can cause tsunamis that sweep away everything on the beach. This means you won't be able to go to that beach for a while until everything calms down, and the tsunami will most likely have swept away all the shops and places you like to go to, so you won't be able to go there anymore. More than anything, however, earthquakes cause death. If there is an earthquake in your city, or in the city of a loved one, they could die or be seriously injured and this will affect you and your feelings. Earthquake in ChileThe largest recorded earthquake in the world since 1900 is the 1960 Chile earthquake. The earthquake occurred in Chile on May 22, 1960 at 7:11 pm and the aftershocks lasted until November 1. The earthquake occurred about 100 miles off the coast of Chile, parallel to the city of Valdiva; (Southern Chile, Valdiva-Puerto Montt area) This earthquake killed many people and also caused a large tsunami when it ended. Believe it or not, but most of the damage that was done was not caused by the earthquake itself, but by the tsunami that followed.