User blog comment:TheAlphatheOmega/Grath/@comment-12161342-20150130004301

Shard

''Deep within Shard's broken core, the ten major pieces of the broken moon rest in uneasy balance. However, a smaller, minor piece spontaneously shifts and breaks underneath the base of one of the largest pieces of Shard, causing the entire structure to shift like an unsteady jenga tower. As pieces shift, a large slab of stone breaks off the face of one giant piece. Falling down, it wedges in the core between two major chunks, keeping them from settling back into equilibrium. Stress and pressure build up as the moon's gravity pulls at the structure, until the slab gives way and shatters into stone debris and dust under the immense strain. Both major pieces smash into place, releasing the pent up stress and pressure through waves in the stone...''

''On the surface of Shard, everything is quiet except for the recent activities of enterprising navies. There is no warning of the seismic waves headed up towards the surface. Suddenly,  the still surface of Shard lurches once, then twice, then bibrates, buckles, rolls, jumps, and pitches like a massive storm at sea as the seismic waves reach the surface and manifest themselves as an unimaginably powerful earthqake. Hills and mountains crumble, as tectonic thrusting creates new ones in their stead. Craters disappear, and cracks open and close in the rock. The massive, kilometers-wide faults in the surface that separate the major shards of Shard alternatively spash shut with enough force to spew rock debris into the black, starry sky and yawn open even wider than before. As the massive earthquake subsides a full two minutes after starting, Shard becomes quiet once more, save for occasional aftershocks. What few instruments that survived the Shardquake reveal just how deadly Shard can be as their displays indicate that this quake has measured an astonishing 20.6 on the Richter scale.''