Cascading Earthquake Effects

Earthquakes rarely cause damage through shaking alone. The deadliest effects are often secondary disasters the quake sets off.

Liquefaction turns solid ground into quicksand. During the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, whole neighborhoods sank as the soil liquefied, swallowing cars and tilting houses.

Landslides can bury villages in seconds. The 2008 Sichuan earthquake set off thousands of landslides, some of which dammed rivers and created dangerous quake lakes that threatened downstream towns for months. Understanding these knock-on effects is why modern preparedness goes far beyond bolting down furniture.