Earthquake

The only way for a earthquake to happen is that the surface of the earth moves.  When this happens the two plates shift against each other.

The cause of the earthquake is when the plates jump on each other making an earthquake.  The earth's crust is thin so it will just crack.  This only happens when the plates jerk.

A major earthquake can knock everything down in just one go, the other thing it can do is cause trees and buildings to fall at the same time.  The earthquake can damage buildings and also split roads in half.  The earthquake can make lakes disappear into the earth, because of the earthquake many people have lost their lives.

An instrument can measure the movement of the earth during the earthquake.  It is measured in a scale of 1-10.  This is the Richter scale.