How are earthquakes formed?

How are earthquakes formed?

Earthquakes happen, scientists believe, through the shifting of continental plates. The surface of the Earth consists of a dozen or so major plates, like most of North America, or Africa plus nearby ocean bottoms. These plates float on the mantle like rafts of bubbles on diswhwater. As they collide and rub against one another, the edges stick and build up pressure and tension. Eventually the tension breaks whatever is holding the plates stuck, they jump a few inches or feet or more, which is the earthquake itself. Then they stick together again, and the pressure begins to build again.