Everything You Should Know Before The Next Earthquake

Seismologists, or people who study vibrations in Earth's crust, use various tools to measure earthquakes and categorize them by severity. Due to the tectonic plates that are constantly moving Earth's crust (and subsequently, the continents and other landmasses), when these plates collide with each other, they eventually lose loose rock and slide over one another, causing earthquakes on the way. The energy that is created by this sliding motion is what seismologists study (via Michigan Tech University). In the 1930s, Charles Richter, an American seismologist, devised a system to measure earthquakes by their amplitude, which was named the Richter scale, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Earthquakes are typically thought to be an utterly uncontrollable natural disaster. Seemingly, there's no way that humans could have any control over the massive tectonic plates beneath their feet, so the only thing to do in terms of earthquake prevention is focus on being prepared and having solid infrastructure. But in fact, many earthquakes in recent history have been induced by human activity.

Natural disasters are a part of life on Earth. Although they can be huge and devastating, there are plenty of ways humans have learned to prepare for them. You might have participated in a tornado drill at least once before, or at least kept an eye on your phone for updates during severe weather. And everyone has seen hurricane forecasts on the news as experts track tropical storms headed toward land.

While most earthquakes happen in certain hotspots, however, they can and do occur everywhere. As the British Geological Survey notes, this includes places like the U.K., which are far from any tectonic plate boundaries. The USGS also mentions that there's no straightforward answer to the question of which country has the most earthquakes, but it's possible to look at how frequently countries are affected by them. CRED/UCLouvain in Brussels, Belgium, maintains the EM-DAT database of natural disaster data, which can give an overview of which countries have the highest earthquake risk.

Earthquakes are considered one of nature's biggest surprises, since they seem to happen without warning, anywhere and anytime. Technology is getting better and better at detecting these tremors before they happen. Scientists at the United States Geological Survey agency have developed earthquake early warning systems (EEW) that monitor networks of ground motion sensors in certain areas that can issue public alerts seconds before shaking begins. There's even advanced machine-learning technology that can predict major tremors by analyzing acoustic signals to find failing fault lines within the Earth's core.