Earthquakes happen when there are movements in the Earth’s crust, most commonly at tectonic plate boundaries. When two plates meet or pass one another, they can get stuck and this builds pressure between the two plates. When this pressure (or stored energy) is released, intense vibrations (also known as seismic waves) are released, causing an earthquake.
It is these seismic waves which can be measured by special machines called seismometers, and this information is used to create an image of the seismic waves, known as a seismograph.
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