An earthquake is a geological event inside the earth that generates strong vibrations. When the vibrations reach the surface, the earth shakes, often causing damage to natural and manmade objects, and sometimes killing and injuring people and destroying their property. Earthquakes can occur for a variety of reasons; however, the most common source of earthquakes is movement along a fault.

Some earthquakes occur when tectonic plates, large sections of Earth's crust and upper mantle, move past each other. Earthquakes along the San Andreas and Hayward faults in California occur because of this. Earthquakes also occur if one plate overruns another, as on the western coast of South America, the northwest coast of North America, and in Japan. If plates collide but neither is overrun, as they do crossing Europe and Asia from Spain to Vietnam, earthquakes result as the rocks at the abutting plates compress into high mountain...