Debra Tubbs, age 10, of Rockford, Illinois, for her question:

Is it true that earthquakes cause floods?

Most earthquakes are small temblors too weak to make changes in the landscape. The earth has dozens of these small shivers every week and only the experts know about them. But once in a while, a section of the earth's crust shudders with a major quake. The results, as we know, may be disastrous, especially when they occur in densely populated areas. Seismologists hope someday to predict major earthquakes in time to give people warning.

A major quake can remodel a large area    of the landscape almost completely. It can topple mountain peaks, tear deep cracks in the ground and start devastating landslides and mud slides. It can cut across rivers and cause their waters to flood in other directions.. But its most terrible floods occur when it shifts crustal blocks in the bed of the sea. The ocean water is heaved up in tsunami tidal waves. When this occurs near a shore, the monstrous waves may sweep far inland bringing fast and relentless floods.