Earthquakes are among society’s most catastrophic risks. They can cause buildings to collapse, roads to break or crack, and other natural features like mountainsides or cliffs to suddenly fall away into a pile of rubble.
Earthquakes are graded on the Richter Scale, which measures their magnitude in ‘units’ of energy released. Earthquakes measuring at least seven units are considered major and those that measure four to six are mild according to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
Earthquakes are enormously difficult to predict. However, they don’t happen in surprise areas. The best way to know what may potentially cause an earthquake is to use a service like HazardHub API’s Earthquake Risk API which shows the risks for different locations around the country.