Volcanoes and Earthquakes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Volcanoes and Earthquakes - Research Paper Example Earthquakes have caused widespread damage to human life over the years. There have been earthquakes that have wiped away generations, cities; only to be found later by geologists and historians. With the advanced technology, it has become easier to measure the magnitude and the origin of the earthquake with immense accuracy. Predicting earthquakes is still a mystery and they always catch the human race by surprise.Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of tectonic plates that are present under the Earth’s surface. The ground we consider rock solid, is made up of plates that constantly keep shifting, occasionally shifting rapidly, causing earthquakes in that region. This movement of plate’s releases stress along the geologic faults. These fault lines are considered the boundaries between two plates. It is along these fault lines that earthquakes occur. Interestingly, Earthquakes can also be caused by human activity such as mine blasts and nuclear testing. The epicenter b eing the exact point on the earth’s surface, under which at the hypocenter is present; hypocenter being the exact point where the movement took place (Caroll, 1997). The thought of volcanoes, brings a mountain with erupting lava in our minds. Volcanoes are almost always associated with fascinating destruction of nature and their blinding rage of destroying everything that comes in their way. However, geologically, a volcano is any opening on the planet’s surface, from which the molten lava can make its way to the surface. From fissure vents to submarine volcanoes; all openings in the earth crust the spew out lava are termed as volcanoes. There is classification based on the kind and composition of lava that comes out of the fissures or openings (Sengupta, 2007). Volcanoes are also classified on the basis of their activity; they are active, dormant or extinct. Active volcanoes erupt regularly with many eruptions scripted in the human history; these eruptions may be mont hs apart, years apart or centuries apart. Dormant volcanoes are the ones who have been quiet (no eruptions) for a long period of time, with no written records of their activity until the day the activity starts again. Extinct volcanoes, as the name implies, are the volcanoes that were active some time but have no activity happening as there is no lava supply (Carol, 1997). Volcanoes and Earthquakes: Relationship? The relationship between the volcanoes and earthquakes is pretty significant. On the face of it, there might not be enough evidence, however, when one studies closely it is evident that one of these surely can trigger the other (Rafferty, 2010). Earthquakes generally occur at tectonic plates and most of the eruptions occur in these volcanic regions only. The movement is caused by