kids encyclopedia robot

Active fault facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
New Madrid Erdbeben
Woodcut of the New Madrid Earthquake, that happened in 1811. It is the biggest earthquake in the history of the US, east of the Rocky Mountains. It is classifired as level IX (heavy shaking) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It probably had a magnitude of between 7.5 and 7.9 on the Richter scale.

An active fault is a fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Faults are active if there has been movement seen or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,000 years. Active faulting is considered to be a geologic hazard. It is related to earthquakes as a cause.

NMSZBig
Measurements of New Madrid Seismic Zone, the zone where the earthquake struck. Thr active fault is shown in red.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Falla activa para niños

kids search engine
Active fault Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.