What is an Earthquake

What is an earthquake?

An earthquake is an intense shaking of the Earth’s surface. When the Earth’s tectonic plates rub up against each other, energy is released as a shockwave.

The largest effects are felt at the epicentre. Earthquakes can range from small and barely noticeable through to violent and very destructive.

What is the impact of an earthquake?

Earthquakes can happen without any warning. They destroy homes, hospitals and schools, can kill many people, and force millions to leave where they live.

These disasters can also make it hard to get access to food, clean water, health care, and education.

Vulnerable groups, especially children, are often the ones who suffer the most in these disasters – this is why we focus on support for children and families.

What is an aftershock of an earthquake?

Aftershocks are earthquakes that happen after the main earthquake. They can be very dangerous because they can cause damaged buildings to collapse and put rescue workers’ lives at risk.

There are some regions of the world that are more prone to earthquakes, such as parts of Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Where families already face challenges such as poverty or conflict in affected areas, it can be even more of a struggle for children and families to recover and rebuild.

How are earthquakes measured?

The Richter scale

For many years, scientists used the Richter scale to measure earthquakes. This scale shows how strong an earthquake is. It is measured using a machine called a seismometer, which produces a seismograph. The Richter scale starts at 1 and usually goes up to 10, but it could go higher.

The Richter scale does not work well for very large earthquakes. Today, scientists use the more accurate Moment Magnitude Scale, which is better suited to measuring large earthquakes.

In the UK, we use the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS) to show how strong an earthquake magnitude feels to people and what damage it causes to buildings.

How earthquakes affect and impact children

Children are at high risk during earthquakes. When caregivers, families and teachers are affected by disasters, it can be harder for children to get the care, protection, and essential care they need.

Children who have experienced a disaster are much more likely to have:

• Physical health problems, including exposure to the elements, struggle to access to food and safe water.
• Mental health symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, which may continue long after the disaster.
• Disruption to education, lower school attendance and trouble learning.

We are especially concerned for the safety and well-being of children who have lost their homes, those who are sleeping rough and those who have been separated from their families.

How UNICEF UK supports children impacted by earthquakes

When earthquakes strike, we mobilise supplies and services quickly to meet the urgent needs of children and families in affected regions. Alongside our emergency response, we work with communities to support recovery and build long-term resilience.

Our emergency responses are focused on ensuring children and families have access to essential services including:

• Safe water
• Hygiene kits and sanitation services
• Shelter supplies
• Education
• Child protection
• Medical care

Here are some examples of how this support has helped children and families after recent earthquakes.

Our response in Afghanistan

When a devastating earthquake struck Afghanistan in 2025, claiming nearly 2,000 lives, we responded immediately with emergency support, including health care, clean water and temporary shelter.

We also worked with our partners to restore water systems, schools and health services to help communities recover and rebuild for the future.

• Social protection – Delivered humanitarian cash assistance to 14,445 vulnerable households (94,600 people, including 58,895 children).
• Education – 79 schools were rebuilt after earthquake and flood damage, benefiting 67,700 children.

Our response in Myanmar

In March 2025, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar, followed by 262 aftershocks ranging from 5.5 to 3.0 magnitude.

Children’s rights to education and safety were severely affected, while ongoing conflict, school destruction, teacher shortages and severe access restrictions limited service delivery.

• Safe water & hygiene – Reaching 617,157 people with temporary access to safe water.
• Health & nutrition – Providing healthcare services to 50,983 people, including 23,612 children.
• Social protection and cash – Supporting families in the worst-affected areas with cash transfers.
• Education – Delivering essential learning supply kits to support children’s continuous learning reaching 17,670 children.

Our response in Syria

The earthquakes that hit Syria in early February 2023 affected more than 8.8 million people.

Working with our implementing partners, we reached around 5.8 million people in earthquake-affected areas with assistance, including 3.2 million children.

• Safe water & hygiene – We have rehabilitated water and sewage networks to provide access to safe drinking water to over 800,000 people.
• Health & nutrition – Since the beginning of the response, more than 31,700 people have been provided with health and nutrition supplies, and over 61,000 children under five have been screened for malnutrition in Northwest Syria.
• Child wellbeing – We have provided mental health and psychosocial support to over 217,000 children.
• Education – In the aftermath of the earthquakes, we set up temporary learning spaces and delivered education supplies for more than 131,000 children.

Our response in Türkiye (Turkey)

The February 2023 earthquakes immediately displaced around 3.3 million people, of which 2 million sought shelter in tents and containers.

Our programme response focused on:

• Critical supplies – Over 132,000 children now have access to critical supplies, including winter clothing, hygiene kits and electric heaters.
• Child wellbeing – Over 140,000 children have received psychological first aid.
• Vaccination – UNICEF helped provide more than 1.3 million earthquake affected children with access to immunisation services.
• Education – We provided 27,000 children in earthquake affected areas with essential stationery and learning materials.

Today, children affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela urgently need the same rapid, life-saving support.

We’re responding to the Venezuela earthquakes

Two powerful earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela on the evening of 24 June, causing widespread devastation across several states, including Caracas and coastal areas such as La Guaira. Around 3.9 million children are in affected areas.

We need your help to continue providing essential, life-saving supplies to the children who need them most. Please donate to help provide relief and support to children in Venezuela.