SafekipediaWhat Are Remotely Triggered Earthquakes?
Remotely triggered earthquakes are tiny shakes in the ground that happen far away from a big earthquake. Imagine a giant wave in a pond — it can make small ripples far from where the wave started. Big earthquakes can do something like this with the Earth.
Why Do They Happen?
When a huge earthquake happens, it changes the balance of rocks deep in the ground. This change can make other places shake a little, even if they are not close to where the big earthquake was. These small shakes are often very small and hard to notice.
Famous Examples
One famous example happened after a big earthquake in California in 1992. Many small quakes happened all over the state after that. Another big example was after a very strong earthquake near the Indian Ocean, when small shakes were felt as far away as Alaska. Scientists use special tools like discrete element modelling to learn more about how the Earth moves.
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Remotely triggered earthquakes, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.