The Earth became a hospital place after thousands of years of geological and biological processes. The Earth underwent a rigorous and continuous process of formation and destruction to become what it is today. The land was formed by powerful movements of the tectonic plates. These are the land masses which are continuously in motion deep […]
The Earth became a hospital place after thousands of years of geological and biological processes. The Earth underwent a rigorous and continuous process of formation and destruction to become what it is today. The land was formed by powerful movements of the tectonic plates. These are the land masses which are continuously in motion deep beneath the earth’s surface. These tectonic plates underwent rapid dislocation in the remote past giving rise to the continents that we know today. The huge mountains that you see like the Himalayas, Atlas, Alps, the tallest peak that you see i.e. the Mount Everest was once a flat piece of land, may be even submerged under water. As the tectonic plates moved and collided, the land was forced to move upwards giving rise to these geological structures.
The fact is that the tectonic plates are never at rest. These plates are continuously in motion. This means that all of our continents are moving at some speed. It has been suggested that thousands of years ago the Earth has only one huge land mass. Due to the tectonic movements the land kept breaking and drifting away giving rise to our 7 continents. The fact is that, these continents are still moving away from each other. Due to these movements, at times we experience the impact of this sheer force. These are called the seismic waves. These are waves are nothing but the underground energy that has reached the Earth’s surface and these are responsible for the Earthquakes.
Earthquakes are deemed as moderate or dangerous depending upon their magnitude. The most common instrument used is called the Richter scale which says that a magnitude of 3 or below is generally as weak while beyond 7 are taken to be dangerous. It has been found out that on an average the Earth records more than 500,000 earthquakes every year out of which only about 100,000 are strong enough to be felt. Many countries like Alaska, California, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Chile, Iran, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Portugal, New Zealand, New York etc constantly experience minor earthquakes. It has been estimated by the US Geological Survey that since the year 1990, there have been 18 major earthquakes having a magnitude between 7 and 7.9 and 1 great earthquake having a magnitude of 8.0 or more every year on an average. This average has been the same since 1990.
Although earthquakes have been destructing mankind since ages, but there have been a few who have engraved themselves as the deadliest or the biggest in history.
Biggest earthquakes (since 1990): –
Deadliest Earthquakes (Since 1990): –
These were only a few earthquakes that are listed above. The history is full of these horrifying episodes that swiped the human civilization off its feet over and over again. Millions of people have lost their lives to these disasters. Although man has started using smart engineering to build earthquake proof structures but only time will show how smart nature can be in defeating our intelligence.
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