Formation	Description	Classification		Occurrence	Damage
Formation An earth quake occurs when two or more tectonic plates move into or away from each other under the earths surface. The place where  this natural disaster forms is in two places. One place is the called the hypocenter it is under ground ( about 10 to 15 feet). The other is the focus and it is above the surface in the fault line.
Description An earthquake is a deadly and costly movement of the tectonic plates under the earths surface. Earthquakes form near fault line in the earth surface. Earthquakes send out waves that cause the fault to rupture. The are two points In an earthquake. The first is the focus it is under the earths surface about ten to . the second point is the epicenter it is on the surface and is usually in at  the fault line where the quake is happening. The focus is about zero to forty miles deep.
Classification Earthquakes are monitored throughout the world by scientists. They use a machine called the seismograph. a seismograph records the earths movement . About one million small earthquakes happen all over the world.
Occurrence Earthquakes happen all over the world . Some spots that have quite a few earthquakes are California.  Very large earthquakes like the one that hit Alaska happen every few years. Moderate earthquakes like the one that hit Lomaprieta California in 1995 happen every twenty years
Damage Earthquakes can cause millions of dollars of  damage and take human life . in the past 500 years  several million people have been killed by earthquakes . the highest casualties ever recorded in an earthquake was the 1976 Earthquake that hit T'ang- Shan: china earthquake. It killed more than 240,000.
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