Earthquake part one

My father said that the earth's crust is made up of pieces like a jigsaw puzzle called tectonic plates. Earthquakes happen when the tectonic plates shift downwards,upwards or slide past each other. Most earth quakes occur along the edges of the large plates that make up the earth's crust.

I got some information from these sites:
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/Earthquakes/Pages/qh_earthquakes_what.aspx
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_583_,00.html
http://www.72hours.org/earthquake.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/faultline/

There is a lot of information there although some may not be really appropriate so using common sense is required. Some advice on what to do during an earthquake includes protecting yourself with something strong like a wall or solid table if you are indoors.
However, it was reported in the news about the May 12 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China, that many buildings had collapsed. So hiding in buildings during earthquakes is not 100% safe.