WHILE NASA CONTINUES TO EXPLORE THE VAST REACHES OF SPACE, THERE’S STILL PLENTY OF SCIENTIFIC MYSTERY TO UNDERSTAND HERE ON EARTH. ONE EXAMPLE IS EARTHQUAKES. SCIENTISTS HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PREDICT WHEN AN EARTHQUAKE WILL OCCUR. AN EARTHQUAKE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO BLOCKS OF THE EARTH SUDDENLY SLIP PAST ONE ANOTHER. THE SURFACE WHERE THEY SLIP IS CALLED THE FAULT. RECENTLY, SEVERAL EARTHQUAKES SHOOK HAWAII AND NEW ZEALAND, AND, A SERIES OF QUAKES HAVE BEEN ROCKING ITALY FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. ACCORDING TO THE US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY’S EARTHQUAKE TRACK, ITALY HAS EXPERIENCED 70 EARTHQUAKES THIS YEAR – MAINLY IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE COUNTRY. BACK TO BACK QUAKES IN PERUGIA LAST MONTH WERE ESPECIALLY DEVASTATING, AS BARBIE NADEAU EXPLAINS:
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THE LATEST TREMOR IN THE BOOT-SHAPED COUNTRY HAPPENED EARLIER THIS WEEK. SCIENTISTS SAY THAT THE EARTHQUAKES IN ITALY ARE OCCURRING BECAUSE TWO PIECES OF EARTH – CALLED PLATES – HAVE BEEN SLOWLY MOVING AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, ESSENTIALLY SPLITTING THE COUNTRY DOWN THE MIDDLE. WHILE SCIENTISTS LOOK FOR ANSWERS, THE NEWLY APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY, PAOLO GENTILONI, HAS VOWED TO REBUILD THE TOWNS WHICH WERE DESTROYED.
Instructional Links
Website Article: Easy Science for Kids, Earthquakes http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-earthquakes/
Website Article: Weather WizKids, Earthquakes http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-earthquake.htm
Website Artice: Ohio History Central, Earthquakes http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Earthquakes
Reference Book: CIA World Factbook, Italy https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html