An earthquake occurs at the large cracks in the Earth’s crust called faults. The plates sit on top of a layer of Earth called the ‘mantle’. The mantle contains ‘convection currents’. Convection currents occur when the hot molten rock inside the mantle goes up and cools down and goes back to the bottom. This causes the plates to move around.

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When the hot magma from the bottom rises and the cool magma at the top cools sinks, this is called convection currents.

When two plates rub together while going opposite directions, they may lock together. While this is occurring, large amounts of potential energy build up. When too much pressure builds up, the plate on one side of the fault moves and an earthquake is created.

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