An earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earth's crust.

in slow but constant motion Earthquakes occur where the stress resulting from the differential motion of these plates exceeds the strength of the crust. The highest stress (and possible weakest zones) is most often found at the boundaries of the tectonic plates and hence these locations are where the majority of earthquakes occur. Events located at plate boundaries are called interplate earthquakes; the less frequent events that occur in the interior of the lithospheric plates are called intraplate earthquakes Earthquakes related to plate tectonics are called tectonic earthquakes. Most earthquakes are tectonic, but they also occur in volcanic regions and as the result of a number of anthropogenic sources, such as reservoir induced seismicity, mining and the removal or injection of fluids into the crust. Seismic waves including some strong enough to be felt by humans can also be caused by explosions (chemical or nuclear), landslides, and collapse of old mine shafts, though these sources are not strictly earthquakes. These sources will also show a different seismogram than earthquakes. The New York Time articles talks about the earthquake that took place in Balakot, Pakistan. More than 75000 people were killed in the earthquake, and it left around 3.5 million people homeless. After such a severe destruction that this quake brought upon Pakistani people the local government wants to relocate the town that was closest to the epicenter of the quake. Many locals oppose to such decision because the generation has been brought up in this area. But local government thinks there is a likely chance of this quake to take place again so to be on a safer side they'd like to relocate the town. Larisa Knyazeva Core 8.2 Sec. ET6A 4/25/06