Earthquakes for Kids STEM | Learn why earthquakes happen and how to measure them

Did you know that several million earthquakes happen every year? Earthquakes for Kids STEM is a great video to learn a little more about earthquakes. Most earthquakes are so small in magnitude that we can't feel them. The United States Geological Survey only records about 20 each year in the US.

The reason earthquakes happen in the first place has to do with the tectonic plates below the surface of the earth. Tectonic plates move around constantly. Those movements cause tension, which in turn causes huge faults or cracks in the rocks. The faults sometimes get stuck, and when they get unstuck, they cause an earthquake! Tectonic plates move in three ways: subduction, lateral sliding, and spreading.

The closer you are to an earthquake's epicenter, the more strongly you will feel it. This is because an earthquake loses its intensity as it travels away from the epicenter. Scientists measure the intensity of an earthquake using a seismograph, which detects and measures the vibrations of the earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake is the number we assign to record its size. A magnitude of 5.5 if considered moderate. Above 8.0 means it's a major earthquake. And earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or lower are usually not felt at all.

We hope you and your student(s) enjoyed learning about earthquakes! If you want to learn even more, head over to our website and download one of our many lesson plans on earthquakes and other natural disasters, full of activities, worksheets, and more!

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What you will learn in Earthquakes for Kids STEM:
0:00 Introduction to earthquakes
0:33 Layers of the earth
1:42 How tectonic plates move
2:31 Ring of Fire
3:29 Measuring an earthquake
4:15 Model seismograph activity

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Want to learn more? Check out our video on Volcanoes here: https://youtu.be/3Jxeh-yAXek

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