Page 54 - (DK) Danger! Open with Extreme Caution!

Side effects

When Earth shakes like crazy, it can lead to all sorts of other deadly
disasters. Quakes under the seabed can trigger giant waves, such as the
terrifying tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean in December 2004.
They can also set off giant landslides, sending millions of tons (tonnes)
of rock and ice crashing down a mountainside. If a quake occurs while
people are cooking, like the Tokyo earthquake of 1923, it can set off
ferocious firestorms that cause even more damage than the quake itself.

Ready to rumble
No one can predict earthquakes, but if you’re lucky,
you may get a warning in the form of tiny tremors,
signaling that there’s a monster quake on the way.
Also, geysers—hot springs that shoot out fountains
of water as regular as clockwork—can suddenly
go bananas as their water comes from deep
underground where the quake begins. Other signs
of deep trouble are flashes of blue and red in
the sky as underground quartz rocks are shattered
into pieces by the shifting rock, creating electric
currents that travel up into the air.

Whose fault is it?

Earth’s crust is made up of seven giant, and many smaller,
pieces called plates that float around on top of the hot,
liquid rock below. As they move around, the plates push
and grind against one another in places known as faults.
Over time, the pressure builds up, and up… until suddenly
the plates jerk past one another, creating an earthquake.
Hot spots for this kind of earth-shaking mayhem are
California, Japan, and Mexico, while innumerable smaller
earthquakes plague parts of Alaska.

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