A natural calamity is an adverse event resulting from natural processes of the earth. One such devastative natural disaster is Earthquake. When the lithospheric plates move, the surface of the earth vibrates. The vibrations can travel all around the earth. These vibrations are called earthquakes. The area in the crust where the movement starts is called the focus. The place on the surface above the focus is called the epicenter. The vibrations travel outwards from the epicenter as waves. There are three types of earthquake waves; 1. P waves, 2. S waves, 3. Surface waves. Greatest damage is usually closest to the epicenter and the strength of the earthquake decreases away from the centre. Although earthquakes cannot be predicted, the impact can certainly be minimized if we are prepared beforehand. Earthquake is measured with a machine called a seismograph and magnitude of earthquake is measured on Richter scale. An earthquake of 2.0 or less can be felt only a little. An earthquake over 5.0 can cause damage from things falling. A 6.0 or higher magnitude is considered very strong and 7.0 is classified as a major earthquake.

Yogita Parihar

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