Draft:Characteristics of Earthquakes

●Fucus: The focus is the point deep in the Earth's crust where an earthquake begins.

●Epicentre: The epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface immediately above the focus of the earthquake. This is the area that suffers the worst damage during an earthquake.

●Seismic waves: Seismic waves are waves of energy which pass through the Earth's crust from the focus to the surface to cause an earthquake. When these waves are still travelling beneath the Earth's surface, we call them P and S waves.

● L waves: When the P and S waves reach the surface, they become L waves which spread out across the surface from the epicentre. These surface waves cause the most damage during an earthquake.