Earthquakes are perhaps one of natures most breathtaking, yet deadly and destructive wonders.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Earthquakes are perhaps one of natures most breathtaking, yet deadly and destructive wonders that remain untamed by modern day man and his ever advancing technological and scientific evolution. Deaths, fires and economic ruin are all associated with this massive battle with nature.

German meteorologist Alfred Wegener discovered in 1912 the earth's continents in fact fit together like pieces in a giant jigsaw puzzle, and 200 million years ago there would have existed a single land mass, much different to the familiar face of the earth today (diagram 1) . Significant scientific and geological research and developments made since have not only confirmed this, but led to the conclusion that our earth is not as stagnant as once assumed. In fact, on the contrary, it is dynamic and always changing and over millions of years the once united landscape has fragmented and moved apart to create the world as it is now commonly known. The explanation for these amazing shifts of enormous continental land masses lies right at the heart of the earth, hundreds of miles below the surface at the core.

The earth is composed ultimately of three layers; from the outer crust of surface as it