Nina and Joe
Carole King-I Feel the Earth Move plays over the radio
Rumble
sound effects
Ahmal
Dylan
Whoa!
What was that?
Tashi:
Ladies and Gentlemen, California has just experienced another earthquake. So far there have been no reports of injuries…
Kalí:
Living in the North American continent along the coast of California can be a moving experience! That’s because the western coastline is also a major fault-zone. Lots of geological action happens right where we live. We call these earthquakes.
Liang:
Why do we have earthquakes?
Karissa:
The earth is made up of layers. There is an inner core. Then the outer core, the mantle, and the crust.
The inner core is about 11,000 degrees F. and made of solid iron and nickel.
Gabriella:
The outer core is made of very hot liquid iron and nickel, about 9000 degrees F. It moves around the inner core. Around the outer core is the mantle. The mantle is very hot molten rock.
Liang:
Oh, so the deeper you go, the hotter the earth gets.
The deeper rock in the earth’s crust moves and melts.
Nina:
The crust is called the lithosphere. It floats on top of the mantle.
Joe:
The lithosphere has cracks in it. We call those plates. The plates move around on the surface of the earth.
Tashi:
We call that plate tectonics.
Kalí
The Pacific plate moves under the North American plate. The plate moves about 5 centimeters a year.
Ahmal:
The pacific plate subducts under the North American plate.
Dylan:
This makes earthquakes and mountains.
All:
And that’s why we have earthquakes in California!
