Seismic Data - Science 9th period

Latitude

distance north or south of the Equator, measured in degrees

Longitude

Distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees

Equator

an imaginary line drawn around the earth equally distant from both poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres and constituting the parallel of latitude 0°.

Prime Meridian

0 degrees longitude

Faults

Breaks in Earth's crust where rocks have movement

Richter scale

A scale that rates an earthquake's magnitude based on the size of its seismic waves.

convergent boundary

A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.

divergent boundary

The boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other

transform boundary (strike-slip)

A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions

Energy

The ability to do work or cause change; makes things happen

magnitude

Measure of the energy released during an earthquake

plate boundary

the region where two tectonic plates are in contact

Secondary S waves (shear waves)

a seismic wave that causes particles of rock to move in a side-to-side direction

Primary P waves (compressional)

-parallel to direction of movement

-also called primary waves

-fast moving waves

Seismograph

a device that measures the strength of an earthquake

seismic

vibrations of the earth

subduction zone

in tectonic plates, the site at which one plate goes under the other

earthquake

energy travelling as waves passing through Earth, caused by a sudden shirt along a fault line or by volcanic activity

surface waves

seismic waves that travel along the Earth's surface instead of below it

Epicenter

Point on Earth's surface directly above an earthquake's focus