What is an earthquake?

Earthquakes are caused by the movement of plates (huge slabs of rock) making up the surface of the Earth. The region where two or more plates meet is called a plate boundary. The plates are constantly moving but this plate movement is neither smooth nor continuous, rather the plates often lock together at plate boundaries causing a build-up of energy. When the plates eventually move out of this locked position the energy that is released may be felt as an earthquake.