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Earthquakes
 Earthquake Waves

Earthquake Waves
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.68

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    simulate, violent, directly, focus, reverse, angles, droplet, material, fastest, compress, friction, secondary, certain, ever, onto, speed
     content words:    Like P-waves

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Earthquake Waves
By Patti Hutchison 		  
1     Have you ever watched raindrops fall onto a pond? Each droplet forms ripples in the water. They move out from the center in all directions. Earthquake waves move in much the same way.
 
2     An earthquake is a release of earth's energy. It is caused by changes in pressure in the crust due to movements of earth's plates. Rock movements cause the ground to vibrate. This energy moves out from the earthquake in waves, much like the ripples on the pond.
 
3     An earthquake takes place at a point called the focus. This is a spot below the earth's surface where the rocks move.
 
4     The epicenter is a point on the surface directly above the focus. This is where the most violent shaking happens. The earthquake waves reach the epicenter first.
 
5     Earthquake waves are called seismic waves. There are three types of seismic waves. Each has certain characteristics. They travel in different ways and at different speeds.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
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