Earthquakes

Earthquakes Last week, a terrible earthquake happened in Haiti. It made Alice and her friends think hard about it. They asked their science teacher, Mr. Guilton, a simple question, " What makes the earth shake?" Mr. Guilton explained it as simply as he could. He said, “ Inside of the earth, there are BIG pieces of rock that are slowly moving all of the time. When two big pieces hit each other, they make the earth shake. " Then, he told the class that many people all over the world live in fear of earthquakes. Long ago, people believed earthquakes were caused by many different things.

In India, people believed that the earth was held up by four elephants. The elephants stood on a turtle. The turtle stood on a snake. If one of these animals moved, the earth would shake. In Africa, people believed the earth was held up by a giant. When the giant stopped to give his wife a hug, the earth would shake, causing an earthquake. Today, we know the true cause of earthquakes. But that doesn't make them any less scary or dangerous.