What is an earthquake?

An earthquake is when the ground suddenly shakes. This is caused

when rocks beneath the Earth’s surface move and break.An
earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor, or temblor) is the result
of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic
waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a
seismograph.

What Are Earthquake Hazards?

Earthquakes really pose little direct danger to a person. People can't be shaken to death by an earthquake. Some
movies show scenes with the ground suddenly opening up and people falling into fiery pits, but this just doesn't
happen in real life.

Magn
Time Fataliti
Date Place Lat. Long. itude Comments Source
(UTC) es
Mw (HRV). 150 km
(93 mi) west-northwest
West Papua
of Manokwari and about
province,
January 3, 170 km (110 mi) east-
19:43 Indonesia -0.510 132.783 4 7.6
2009 northeast of Sorong in
see 2009 Papua
West Papua province.
earthquake
Followed by a mag. 7.4
event 3 hours later.
Mw (HRV, USGS).
Costa Rica
January 8, 30 km (19 mi) north-
19:21 see 2009 Costa 10.197 -84.159 23 6.1
2009 northwest of the capital
Rica earthquake
San Jose
January 15, East of the Kuril [11]
17:49 46.862 155.156 0 7.4 Mw (HRV, USGS)
2009 Islands, Russia
Mw (USGS). 280 km
February Near Talaud (170 mi) from General [11]
17:34 3.902 126.400 0 7.2
11, 2009 Islands, Indonesia Santos, Mindanao,
Philippines
Tonga Region Mw (HRV, USGS).
March 19,
18:17 see 2009 Tonga -23.050 -174.668 0 7.6 220 km (140 mi) from
2009
earthquake Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
April 6, 01:32 Near L'Aquila, 42.334 13.334 294 6.3 Mw (HRV, USGS).
2009 Abruzzo, Italy 60.0 km (37.3 mi) from
 Rome. Heavy damage
see 2009
reported. Followed by a
L'Aquila
mag. 5.5 aftershock on
earthquake
April 7
Mw (HRV, USGS).
April 7, Near Kuril'sk, [11]
04:23 46.088 151.498 0 6.9 300 km (190 mi) from
2009 Kuril Islands
Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands
Hindu Kush
Mb (USGS). Followed
Region, Eastern
by a Mag. 5.1
April 16, Afghanistan
21:27 34.197 70.065 19 5.4 aftershock. 45 km
2009 see 2009
(28 mi) from Jalalabad,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
earthquake
off north coast of
Honduras
May 28,
08:24 see 2009 16.730 -86.209 7 7.3 Mw (HRV)
2009
Honduras
earthquake
Yunnan, China Mw (HRV, USGS). 336
July 9, 2009 11:49 see 2009 Yunnan 25.619 101.086 1 5.7 injured, 10,000 homes
earthquake destroyed
Fiordland, New
Zealand
July 15,
09:22 see 2009 -45.75 166.58 0 7.8 Mw (USGS)
2009
Fiordland
earthquake
August 9, [12]
10:55 Izu Islands, Japan 33.144 138.040 0 7.1 Mw (HRV, USGS)
2009
Andaman Islands,
Indian Ocean
August 10,
19:55 see 2009 14.013 92.923 0 7.5 Mw (HRV, USGS)
2009
Andaman Islands
earthquake
Java, Indonesia
September
07:55 see 2009 Java -78.09 107.259 79 7.0 Mw (HRV, USGS)
2, 2009
earthquake
Samoa Islands
September [13]
17:48 see 2009 Samoa 15.509 172.034 189+ 8.0 Mw (USGS)
29, 2009
earthquake
southern
Sumatra,
September [14]
10:16 Indonesia -0.725 99.856 1100+ 7.6 Mw (USGS)
30, 2009
see 2009 Sumatra
earthquakes
[15]
22:03 Torres Islands, -13.052 166.187 0 7.6 Mw (HRV, USGS)
October 7, 22:18 Vanuatu -12.554 166.320 0 7.8 Mw (HRV, USGS) [16]

2009 see 2009 Vanuatu [17]

23:13 earthquakes -13.145 166.297 0 7.3 Mw (USGS)
Off the coast of
December Hualian, Taiwan [18]
13:02 23.763 121.689 0 6.4 Mw (USGS)
19, 2009 see 2009 Hualian
earthquake

[edit] 2010
Magn
Time Fataliti
Date Place Lat. Long. itude Comments Source
(UTC) es

Solomon Islands
January 3, [19]
22:36 see 2010 Solomon -8.912 157.307 0 7.2 Mw (USGS)
2010
Islands earthquake
 offshore Humboldt
County, California,
January [20]
00:27 USA 40.645 -124.763 0 6.5 Mw (HRV, USGS)
10, 2010
see 2010 Eureka
earthquake
14 miles west of
Mw (HRV, USGS).
Port-au-Prince,
January 200,000 Worst quake in region in [21]
21:53 Haiti 18.451 -72.445 7.0
12, 2010 + 200 years. Death toll
see 2010 Haiti
could be up to 200,000
earthquake
February
06:10 Ryukyu Islands 23.472 123.713 6.4 Mw (USGS)
7,2010