Earthquakes are the movement of Earth's lithosphere that occurs when rocks in the lithosphere suddenly shift, releasing stored energy. Part of the energy that is released is in the form of seismic waves, which are vibrations that can be recorded by a seismograph in order to check the magnitude of the earthquake. Potential energy transforms into kinetic energy in the form of seismic waves. An earthquake's focus is the location beneath the earth's surface where it began. An epicenter is the location on the earth's surface where an earthquake began, directly above the focus point. As tectonic plates move, they cause stress in the crust, which in turn produces faults and folds. A fault is a break in mass of rock along which movement occurs. Folds are bends in layers of rock. Many other disasters can result is earthquakes, such as tsunamis, volcano eruptions, and mudslides.
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TsunamisIf a convergent earthquake occurs in a body of water, relatively large and shallow, then the energy will displace a huge volume of water, and a tsunami occurs.
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Volcano EruptionsTremors can cause magma to leak through to the Earth's surface, and over time generate a volcano eruption.
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LandslidesLandslides are caused by disturbances of a slope. If a slope gets disturbed, landslides can occur, because something needs to fill the displaced land after an earthquake.
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