Earth's Disguised Dangers: Exploring Faults and Earthquakes

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to earthquakes and faults as presented in the lecture notes.

Pacific Ring of Fire

A horseshoe-shaped zone of intense seismic and volcanic activity around the edges of the Pacific Ocean, home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.

Geologic Fault

A crack in the Earth's crust where movement of rocks occurs, potentially causing earthquakes.

Normal Fault

A type of fault where the ground pulls apart and one side drops down, commonly found in rift valleys and mid-ocean ridges.

Reverse Fault

A type of fault where the ground is pushed together and one side moves up, typically found in mountain ranges.

Strike-Slip Fault

A fault where two sides slide past each other horizontally, such as the San Andreas Fault in California.

Seismic Activities

Events related to the movement of the Earth's crust that can cause earthquakes, particularly relevant in locations like the Philippines.

Tectonic Plate Movements

The movement of the plates that make up the Earth's surface, which can cause earthquakes when they collide, separate, or slide past each other.

Richter Scale

A logarithmic scale used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake based on the energy released.

Mercalli Scale

A scale that measures the intensity of an earthquake based on observed effects and human perception.

Aftershocks

Smaller earthquakes that occur in the same general area after a larger main shock.