A Huge Earthquake Shakes Myanmar: What’s Happening Under the Earth’s Surface?
🌍 On Friday, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 hit central Myanmar, causing a lot of destruction. Sadly, 1,644 people have lost their lives due to this disaster. But why do earthquakes like this happen in Myanmar?
🔬 Experts from the China Earthquake Networks Center have looked into this. They found that the earthquake happened in a special area called the Myanmar Arc. This region is known for having lots of earthquakes.
🗺️ So, what’s going on beneath the ground? Imagine the Earth’s surface is like a giant jigsaw puzzle made of huge pieces called tectonic plates. These plates are always moving, but very slowly. Sometimes, they bump into each other or slide past one another. This can cause earthquakes!
🌋 In Myanmar, two big plates—the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate—are pushing against each other. This collision has been happening for millions of years! It’s like two cars slowly crashing into each other. This pressure creates mountains, like the Himalayas, and makes the ground shake.
📈 The Myanmar Arc is at the eastern edge of the Himalayas. Because of all this movement underground, it has many cracks in the Earth’s crust called faults. These faults can cause strong earthquakes when the rocks suddenly move.
📚 Did you know? Since the year 1900, there have been ten big earthquakes (magnitude 7.0 or higher) near where the recent earthquake happened! The biggest one was in 1912, over 100 years ago, and it was an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
✨ Understanding why earthquakes happen can help scientists predict them better and keep people safe. It’s important to learn about our amazing planet and how it works!
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
