What causes an earthquake?

An earthquake is a violent vibration in the earth’s crust. There are two main causes of earthquakes:

1. Movement of plates of the earth’s crust – when one plate moves relative to another (approaches or moves away), waves appear, which, the closer to the epicenter, the stronger and cause more destruction.

2. Volcanic origin – seething lava and gases press on the layers of the Earth (imagine how the lid on a boiling kettle bounces). As a rule, such earthquakes are weak (but not at the time of a volcanic eruption), But they are long lasting.

An earthquake is a natural phenomenon caused by tremors and vibrations that occur due to unforeseen and sudden ruptures, shifts of the earth’s crust, displacements of lithospheric plates. These shifts and displacements are called tectonic processes.