Comprehension – What are Earthquakes?

A comprehension activity with provided information sheet, questions and suggested answers.

An earthquake is a sudden shaking or movement of the Earth’s crust. Earthquakes occur when the moving tectonic plates that make up the Earth’s surface move apart, bump into each other, or slide under each other. This movement tears apart the surface of the Earth, or crunches it up. Usually, this results in some minor shaking for a few seconds, and nothing very serious happens. However, there are occasions when these plate movements cause major shaking, and the resulting earthquake can have very serious consequences.’

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