why is there so many earthquakes in the past couple of weeks?

Answer 1

earthquakes happen all day long everyday, but they are usually smaller scale-wise and are rarely reported. the ones that have been reported in the last few weeks have been stronger earthquakes....like the one that happened in peru. so just because you don't hear about them, doesn't mean they're not happening. there are some websites out there where you can see when, where, and how strong the earthquakes that occur everyday are.

Answer 2

For the same reason that there are always a lot of earthquakes in any 2-week period. The mistake many people make is believing that earthquakes are not occuring simply because they are not being reported.

Answer 3

I keep track of Earthquakes worldwide, and I assure you the last couple of weeks have in no way been unusual.

Sorry to spoil any sensationalism you might be trying to drum up.

Check facts before coming on to a forum that is visited by people who know what they are talking about.

Don;t just guess. People want to see facts on a science forum, not guesswork.

Answer 4

why because it is like that. it is a natural thing. the are too many cracks and they start to rub on each other which causes earthquakes.

Answer 5

Most earthquakes which make the news occur in two main places, east asia and the pacific coast. Earthquakes are caused by large sections of the earth's surface grinding past one another. These sections of the earth's crust are known as tectonic plates. They float around on the earth's mantle, a semi-liquid mass of rock which makes up most of the earth's mass.

As they slide past one another, they can be blocked. The force increases until something collapses. The plate can then move suddenly. It releases an unimaginable amount of energy, since hundreds of millions of tons of rock suddenly fly into motion.

The plate running along the western edge of south america is known as the pacific plate. It is sliding past the plate which supports the Americas. Earthquakes are therefore common in places like Peru, up the coast to California and even as far north as Alaska. As the plates move, the carry the land mass with them. California is slowly moving north.

Off the coast of southeast asia there are three or four plates moving past one another. One is the indian plate, and this carries the continent of India. It collided with southeast asia and threw up the Himalaya mountains as it got pushed under the continental plate. Before this happened, India was an island, somewhat like Australia.

To the west of India, east Africa is splitting apart and moving west. Magagascar split from Africa about 40 million years ago. This action, combined with the Indian plate moving northward, creates earthquakes in places like Afganistan.

The tsunami in Indonesia was caused by an undersea plate suddenly slipping beneith the edge of the continent of Asia. This suddenly raised the seafloor about 70 feet. The water then fell downhill like rain off a roof. Unlike rain, there were billions of gallons of it, and it created massive waves when it rushed up against the coast.

Indonesia in fact is the outline of a very active pair of tectonic plates grinding past one another. Not surprisingly, it is one of the most geologically active places on earth. Some places experience small earthquakes every day.

Besides earthquakes and tidal waves, moving plates create volcanos. Over 100 years ago an Indonesian island known as krackatoa suddenly became active. Volcanos are places where less dence magma from inside the earth rises to the surface. The composition of the magma is influenced by things such as its sulfur content. The chamber of krackatoa was filled with a very light magma high in sulfur. Suddenly much hotter, denser magma flooded the chamber. The entire island was actually blown to tiny bits in one of the largest volcanic explosions in modern times. It is estimated a cubic mile of solid rock was pulverised and thrown into the atmosphere. It actually created a brief "nucleur winter" and was responcible for crop failure all around the world.

The major earthquake in Peru means the pacific plate is moving northward and pressure is now higher amoungst several other points. One lies along a fault in California known as the San Andraeus. It is visible at the surface in San Francisco, but it also runs under Los Angeles. If strong earthquakes continue along the western edge of South America, it could mean there is going to be a massive earthquake in California sometimes soon.

Answer 6

The Tectonic plates are moving. My Mother heard this on the Radio and it was someone that works on the Fault lines.

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm

Answer 7

Quiet day in the newsroom I expect.

You dont think what they show on the news is ALL that happens do you?

Answer 8

Blame it on global warming like they do everything else!

Answer 9

I don't know but if the government increases our taxes we can stop them.

Answer 10

earth is changing. everything changes some how, some where, any time