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The world around you is just full of things that are on the move.
你周围都是移动的物体。
Airplanes in the sky, cars on the road and tons of animals, including you and me, are walking around everywhere.
天上的飞机，地上的汽车和众多的动物，包括你我，都在到处移动。
But you know what?
但你知道吗？
It turns out that the ground beneath your feet is moving, too!
事实证明你脚下的地面也在移动。
Most of the time, you can't feel it.
但你大部分时间感觉不到。
Because, most of the time, the ground is moving very slowly.
因为，大部分时间，地面移动得非常缓慢。
But when you do feel the ground move, that's called an earthquake.
但等你感觉到它移动时，地震发生了。
During an earthquake, the ground shakes, sometimes a little, and sometimes a lot.
地震时，地面会摇晃，有时很轻，有时晃得厉害。
It might seem kind of strange that the ground, which holds up houses and skyscrapers and everything else, can actually move.
这似乎有些奇怪，支撑房屋大厦及所有事物的地面竟然会移动！
But it does and it's all because of the way the Earth is made.
但它确实动了，这是由地球的构造造成的。
If you could cut the Earth in half, and look at it like this,
如果你把地球切成两半，这样看它，
you'd see that the Earth isn't a solid ball all the way through.
你会看到整个地球并不是一个坚实的球体。
It has layers, kind of like a cake!
它有分层，有点儿像蛋糕。
The top, or outside layer of the Earth...what we think of as the ground...is called the crust.
地球的顶层或者说是表层...我们认为是地面的东西，叫做地壳。
Now, even though the crust of the Earth is certainly very strong, it's not made of one big piece.
现在，即使地壳非常坚固，也不是一整块。
The Earth's crust is actually made of many big pieces that fit together.
地壳实际是由许多大碎片结合起来的。
You can think of these pieces as being like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle.
你可以把这些碎片想象成巨大的七巧板。
And we call these pieces of the crust plates.
我们称这些碎片为地壳板块。
Now, the edges of these plates aren't smooth, like the edges of the plates you eat off.
现在，这些板块的边缘都是不光滑的，就像你把盘子的边缘咬掉了一样。
These plates are made of very thick layers of rock, so their edges are bumpy and ragged, with rocky chunks sticking out of them.
这些板块都是由厚厚的岩层构成的，所以它们的边缘坑坑洼洼，参差不齐，甚至有的大块岩石凸出来。
And it's these plates that make up the Earth's crust that are always moving.
构成地壳的板块总是在动。
Like I said earlier, you usually can't feel or see them moving, because they move very, very slowly.
正像我之前说的，你通常感觉不到或看不到它们移动，因为它们移动得非常非常的慢。
Most plates just creep along at about one or two centimeters a year.
大多数板块只是以每年1到2厘米的速度缓慢移动。
That's slower than your fingernails grow!
这比你指甲生长的速度还慢！
But how do these moving plates cause earthquakes?
但你知道这些移动的板块是如何引发地震的吗？
Well, if you look at pieces of a puzzle, you'll see there there's a gap between the pieces where they touch.
如果你看拼图的碎片，你会发现碎片的连接处会有缝隙。
And, there's a line where the plates touch, too. We call that line a fault.
板块的连接处也有缝隙。我们称之为断层。
Some faults are very thin, and too small to be seen.
有些断层很窄，几乎看不见。
And some are very deep in the Earth's crust.
有些非常深，延伸到了地壳深处。
But some faults are really big, and you can see them right on the Earth's surface.
但有些断层真的很大，你直接就能在地表看到。
For example, this fault, which runs almost the whole length of the state of California, is more than a thousand kilometers long!
如这个断层，它几乎贯穿了整个加州，有一千多米长！
And faults are where most earthquakes happen.
断层是地震最容易发生的地方。
As the plates of the Earth's crust move past each other at a fault, the ragged edges sometimes bump into each other.
因为断层处的板块相互挤压，这些参差不齐的边缘有时会相互碰撞，
And when this happens, the ground above the plates, and anything on the ground shakes.
碰撞时，地面和地面上的所有事物都会震动。
But, sometimes the plates do more than just bump into each other. They get stuck!
但有时，板块不仅仅是相互碰撞，它们卡住了。
Have you ever tried to open a door that's stuck?
你曾试过打开卡住的门吗？
You push and push...and all of a sudden...it opens really fast and bangs against the wall!
你推呀推，突然，它非常快得开了，撞到了墙上。
Well, sometimes, two different plates can't move past each other...and they get stuck.
有时，两个不同的板块相对移动，结果卡住了。
But they keep trying to move!
但它们仍试着移动。
They push against each other, just like you pushing against that stuck door!
它们相互挤压，就像你推卡住的门一样。
When two things push against each other, the force of all of that pushing causes what we call pressure.
两个物体相互挤压时，由推动产生的力，我们称之为压力。
And if the thing that's being pushed doesn't move, that pressure has nowhere to go.
如果被推动的物体不能移动，压力就无处可去。
So it just keeps building up.
所以它就会继续增强。
In the case of our plates of crust, the pressure builds up where they're stuck.
在板块的例子中，压力产生于它们卡住的地方。
It builds and builds...until the rocks break...and the plates suddenly move.
它不断增强，直到岩石破碎，板块突然就动了。
This causes the ground above the plates to shake...sometimes a lot.
这会导致地面震动，有时震动得很厉害。
How much the ground shakes depends on how much pressure has built up between the plates.
地面的震动程度取决于板块间的压力。
The more pressure...the bigger the earthquake.
压力越大，地震越严重。
So there's a lot of cool stuff happening beneath your feet!
我们的脚下正发生着许多有趣的事情。
Even if, most of the time, you can't even feel it!
即使你大部分时间都感觉不到。
Thanks for joining us on SciShow Kids!
感谢收看儿童科学秀！
We love giving your questions...so if you have a question about something you see,
我们喜欢提问，如果你对看到的东西有疑问，
ask a grownup to help you leave a comment down below, or send us an e-mail to kids@scishow.com!
叫个大人帮你在下方留言，或发邮件至kids@scishow.com！
Thanks, we'll see you next time!
感谢您的支持，我们下次见！
