A Wonderleaf question
What causes earthquakes?
a real page from the book
Earthquakes happen when huge pieces of Earth's outer crust move but get caught at their edges. Strain gathers in the rock until a fault suddenly slips, and the released energy races outward as shaking waves through the ground.
One lovely, odd detail is how slow the trouble begins: plates can creep only a few centimeters each year. Seismologists name the underground starting point the focus, while the place above it on land is the epicenter.
Wonder words
- tectonic
- fault
- seismic
- epicenter
Try it out
Press your palms together, push sideways, and feel how sticking can turn slow pressure into a sudden slip.
Read the whole picture book
Watercolour scenes, straight answers, about three minutes cover to cover.
Open the picture bookKeep wondering
And the next question?
Ask anything — Wonderleaf writes and illustrates a picture book for it. That's the whole idea.
Ask your own question