Earthquakes are a series of shocks produced by rocks breaking from the
crust of the earth. The breaking of these rocks, also called plates,
create friction as they come in contact with other plates. Friction
cause the edges of the plates, also known as the lithosphere, to
crumble under stress. Once the plates has crumbled hundreds of
years of stress and tension can get released. When the
lithosphere finally crumples and divides, magma forces itself up threw
the crumbled lithosphere. When the magma is free it disrupts the ocean
and creates title waves.
When an earthquake
occurs it often sends off a cycle of movement, or seismic wave.
Seismic waves are cause by a combination of the lithosphere breaking
and magma forcing itself up to the surface. The larger the gap in the
lithosphere the greater the spread of seismic waves. Normally the
seismic waves are gentle, however if a seismic wave is strong it can
cause much destruction.
This is a process that would take years to happen:
