Question: What causes earth quakes?

Hayley Evers-King answered on 20 Mar 2013:

Earthquakes are caused by movements in the earths crust. The crust if the upper, rocky part of the earth that forms all the land we stand on and the bottoms of our oceans. The crust is split in to bits that float around on molten rock which makes up the inner parts of our planet. When these bits (known as plates) move past each other or crash in to each other, shockwaves are sent through the plates – this is what we feel as an earthquake!