Earthquake Facts – 68 Astonishing Facts About Earthquakes

Earthquake facts: Interesting facts about earthquakes. Earthquakes are unpredictable and it can happen anytime and anywhere. Earthquakes usually happen whenever a plate bumps, scrapes or drags on to one other plate. The sudden release of energy from the earth’s crust causes seismic waves and these waves travel through the earth, called as earthquake. The study of earthquake is known as seismology, it studies frequency, type and size of the earthquakes. There are larger earthquakes and smaller earthquakes. The larger earthquakes measure more than 7 on Richter scale, cause death, injury and mass destruction of landscape buildings. The smaller earthquakes measured less than 3 on Richter scale and are less noticeable. The earthquake that occurs before a large earthquake is called Foreshock and the earthquake that occurs after the previous earthquake is called aftershocks. So far the foreshock effects have caused severe damage than the aftershock as large magnitude shocks affect the same area twice.

Earthquake Facts

80% of the earthquakes happen on the rim of the Pacific Ocean and it is called as Ring of Fire.

Every year, more than 8,000 people die due to earthquakes.

An average earthquake lasts for around one minute.

The longest earthquake to ever occur was the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004 that lasted for 10 minutes.

Canals and ponds release underground gases before an earthquake and cause a pungent smell around the location.

Tectonic plates move 3 inches every year but a slight movement of 20 centimeters i.e. 3 inches and 3 centimeters causes the earthquake.

Due to the oil extraction, the rock moves to fill the void space causing minor earthquakes.

The 2011 Japan’s Earthquake has shortened the Earth’s day by 1.8 microseconds because it increased the speed of the Earth’s rotation.

The 2015 Nepal’s earthquake has shrunk the Mount Everest by one inch (2.5 cm).

More than 1,300,000 earthquakes happen every year with a magnitude of 2.9 or less.