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Shakes and Quakes

By :Ashley Sparacio
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Have you ever felt the ground shake and
heard a grumble beneath your feet? Cheryl sat in
the parking lot, and she suddenly heard cracking
and loud noise. Her parents weren’t there, and
she didn’t know what to do. She was in a parking
lot for a hotel in California. It was very scary. It
was an earthquake. Earthquakes happen when
one of the many tectonic plates (pieces of the
Earth’s crust) making up a part of the Earth’s
crust, shift and bump up against each other,
making the ground shake. Many people are afraid
of earthquakes because they are so sudden and
don’t know how to prepare and protect
themselves.
First aid supplies.
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Preparation
Preparing for an earthquake is simple. Here
are some things you should have in your house
in order to keep safe. First aid kit or two. Incase
someone gets hurt, you need a first aid kit so
they can get treated. A lot of water. Everybody
needs water to live, so you should have at least
one gallon of water per person per day. Food
that doesn’t have to stay cold. The easiest foods
to get that don’t have to be refrigerated are
canned foods. All you would need is a can
opener, and you would be set.
You need extra clothes. You never know
how long an earthquake or aftershock will last.
Some go away that day, some go away in a
week, so you need extra clothes to stay healthy.
Bright flashlights. If the lights don’t work, you
need some source of light. But, candles
wouldn’t be a good idea because if another
earthquake happens, or an aftershock (a mini
earthquake after a big earthquake) happens,
your house might be set on fire if the candle
tips over. Blankets. Earthquakes are sudden.
They can happen any time of the year, so if it is
cold outside, or anywhere, then you need to
stay warm.
Make sure you have a communication
device. Encase someone gets really hurt, not
just a cut or bruise that a first aid kit can’t
handle. Call a hospital. Keep in mind, you may
need other things according to your family
needs, like everyday medicine, or something
for your pet or pets.
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Good to Know
When you are in an earthquake with a big
impact, indoors or outdoors, it is important to
remember a drill that might help save your life.
The drill is: drop, cover, and hold on. To drop, you
have to drop onto the floor and go onto your
hands and knees. To cover, you then have to
cover your head --because the main part of your
body you want to protect is your head-- with
your hands and arms. Holding on, holding on is
pretty much waiting where you are. Do not move
unless something may fall on you, or debris is
about to harm you.
Picture of destruction an earthquake has caused.
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Earthquake!!!
Let’s say you are just sitting on the couch,
just watching television and just relaxing, and
then an earthquake happens. Don’t panic. Just
don’t go outside. For all you know it might be
more dangerous out there. Stay away from
doorways, and glass objects, such as mirrors,
windows, and glass doors. The earthquake might
have made them shatter. It is not fun to have a
piece of glass stuck in your skin, that’s for sure.
Another thing to stay away from is very heavy
objects and furniture. Make sure they don’t
squish you if they move. As well as that, stay
away from hanging objects. The earthquake
aftershock might make it fall.
If you happen to be driving when the quake
happens, pull over as soon as it happens. Don’t
get out of the car, by any means. Stay where you
are. If there is nowhere to pull over, at all, then
keep driving until there is a place. If that is the
case, don’t go on or under any bridges or
overpasses.
If you are outdoors, and an earthquake
happens, don’t go back inside. Stay out in the
open where there are no objects that may injure
you. Avoid trees, powerlines, and signs.
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Why They Happen

Earthquakes happen everyday, believe it or not.
Earthquakes are caused when two tectonic plates
slide under, crash, or shift up against each other.
They are always shifting up against each other, so
earthquakes are always happening. You can’t feel
small earthquakes because they don’t have much
friction. You can feel bigger earthquakes because
they have big amounts of friction. One way to tell
is the Richter Scale. A Richter Scale is used to
measure the magnitude of an earthquake and how
long it lasted.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Tsunami in Japan)
picture.

A Deadly Wave
If you live near water it can be really
dangerous too. An earthquake could be the least
of your problems if a tsunami is born. It might
look like a regular wave at first, but it gets much
larger. Tsunamis are enormous waves created
by earthquakes that grow, pick up debris, goes
This is an example of a Richter Scale comparing
on for miles without getting smaller, and kills
different earthquake magnitudes and seconds lasted. people in the process. They are caused when an
earthquake happens under water. The plate that
got lifted from the other plate, lifted the water
up, creating the deadly wave.
But they don’t happen on a daily basis. Even
if they did, coastguards can tell if a tsunami is
about to hit. Buoys make it easy to tell when a
tsunami is coming. When a tsunami arrives not
to far away from the coast, the bouy will move
around way more than normal. Coastguards will
tell people as soon as they see the buoy
phenomenon, and tell you to get to a higher
ground and further inland.
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Wrapping It Up
Now, you have no need to fear earthquakes.
You know how to properly prepare and what to
do when an earthquake happens. You also how
and why earthquakes happen. Maybe you can
inform others around you now, too. Hopefully,
now knowing what to do during an earthquake,
Cheryl can walk away safe, and unharmed.

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What Can You Do?

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