On this day in history, September 16, 1978, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck near the town of Tabas, Iran. More than 25, 000 people were killed. The quake was felt up to 400 miles away. The town of Tabas was destroyed. Of the 17, 000 people who lived there, only about 2000 survived. The only buildings left standing were the school and the bank. They were the only buildings that had been constructed with steel frames.
Earthquakes result when energy is suddenly released along faultlines. Think of pushing two cardboard boxes together. Sooner or later, one of them will collapse, causing the other to suddenly move forward, backward, or sideways, depending upon which way the collapsed box fell.
The tectonic plates on our planet move just like those cardboard boxes. They constantly grind against each other until one of them gives up and the other one moves suddenly, releasing energy in the form of an earthquake.
This illustration shows the types of faults and how they work:
No comments:
Post a Comment