Earthquakes

The major earthquake that struck offshore from Japan in March, 2011, was one of the largest earthquakes experienced in that region of the world in many years. It caused massive damage and it spawned a powerful tsunami that literally wiped many Japanese towns off the map. The causes of earthquakes are known to scientists, although science has not yet become sophisticated enough to predict when and where an earthquake will occur. This paper reviews the many aspects of earthquakes and the ramifications of those disruptions of the earth's crust.

Causes of earthquakes: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) explains that an earthquake happens "when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another." The surface of the ground where the slippage took place is called the "fault" or the "fault plane." The earth actually has "four major layers, the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust," the USGS...
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