Why does an earthquake cause massive destruction?

An earthquake can damage buildings through a variety of effects. During an earthquake, the ground can experience high accelerations and high velocities. read more

An earthquake can actually cause another earthquake. To wrap it all up, earthquakes cause massive destruction, varying from infrastructure to lowering the quality of life the following days, which in turn could spread disease and illness. read more

In the Tangshan earthquake of 1976, considered the most devastating earthquake of the twentieth century, up to 650,000 people died, mostly due to inadequate building construction. In the Kobe earthquake of 1995, over 100,000 buildings collapsed and about 80,000 more were damaged. read more