Earthquakes and then some...

Hello internet. Today I'm going to be talking about earthquakes and another type of "quake" that could cause mass extinction...

Earthquakes are caused by the tectonic plates [to view Earth's tectonic plates, click here] of the earth trembling and grinding on each other. The big ones are made when two or more tectonic plates are pushing against each other with more and more pressure until the entire thing collapses and the pressure built is released toward the surface (this is how some tsunami are made).

• A rate of 0-1 is not felt to people; the wave of impact rarely reaches the surface. A large hand grenade is about 0.2.

• A rate of 1-3 is felt by very sensitive people; however small objects will be noticeably shaking. A typical construction blast is about 2.1.

• A rate of 3-6 is felt by most people. Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings. At most, none to slight damage to all other buildings. The Lincolnshire earthquake is about 5.2.

• A rate of 6-8 is felt by everyone in the area. Causes damage to many buildings over areas. Some buildings completely collapse or receive severe damage. The Kashmir earthquake is about 7.4.

• A rate of 8-9 is felt by everyone around the world. Severe damage to all buildings with massive destruction. Damage and shaking extends to distant locations. The Great Japan earthquake is 8.9

• A rate of 10 is felt by everyone, obviously. Never recorded, equivalent to an earthquake rupturing a very large, lengthy fault, also shown in science fiction.

• A rate of >10 is felt even in Earth's atmosphere. Only one known impact with a rate of >10 happened on Earth. It was the Yucatán Peninsula impact (creating Chicxulub crater) 65 Mya ago.

So yeah. But there is one more type of "quake" that tops it. It is known as a starquake. It's basically what the name implies. It's a quake that happens on stars, neutron stars, to be exact. The largest one recorded was the approximate magnitude of the starquake on the magnetar SGR 1806-20, registered on December 27, 2004. It rated a 32.2 on the richter scale! So yeah.

Interesting fact of the day: A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.