Have you ever seen a video of or experienced an earthquake? Without warning, the ground begins to shake! If the earthquake is large, buildings and other structures, like bridges, may even get damaged from the ground moving in what feels like a back-and-forth motion.

But why did this earthquake happen?

What Do You Already Know About Earthquakes?

Developing an understanding of where earthquakes are located will require thinking about the changes that are occurring over time. The locations of earthquakes are stable and do not change over long periods of time. However, sudden changes in size and depth of earthquakes do occur at these locations.

Science Themes: Using Stability and Change to Think About Earthquake Locations