5th Class Science Natural Disasters Earthquake

     Natural Calamities

Natural calamities are some disasters caused by nature which might affect our lives. Some of the natural disasters are earth quakes, volcanoes tidal waves and thought.

       Earthquake

An earthquake is a sudden shaking of the ground caused by the movements or vibrations deep inside the earth.

The earth's upper layer, the crust, is made of large and small plates. The layers of the earth under the plates are hot and in a molten state because the core below is externally hot these layers under the plates are constantly moving. Such movements cause the plates to slide smoothly against each other. There movements can sometimes give rise to earthquakes.

When the ground shakes, houses, buildings and bridges shake. When it lasts for some time, roads crack, structures shatter and communication systems collapse.

Also there is loss of life and property.

Earthquakes is measured on a Richter scale

People who study earthquakes are called seismologists.

Earthquake can be detected with an instrument called a seismograph..