Earthquake Quiz: Study Guide

What's an earthquake?

Violent shaking of the ground

Where are the vibrations of an earthquake known as?

Seismic waves

What are two ways that rocklayers can respond to stress

It forms in a plastic manner like a piece of molded clay, or in an elastic manner like a rubber band

Explain the difference between P waves, and S waves

like P waves S waves cannot travel through parts of the earth that are completely liquid and P waves also arrive earlier than S waves

What type of deformation causes an earthquake

Elastic deformation

What are the fastest seismic waves?

P waves

How are surface waves different from body waves?

Surface waves travel more slowly and are more destructive

What are S waves unable to travel through

liquid

What is a seismograph?

an instrument that record vibrations in the grounds, and determines the location and the strength of an earthquake

What is the main difference between an epicenter in the focus of an earthquake

The epicenter is the point on the earth surface directly above an earthquake starting point as the focus is the point inside the earth, where in earthquake begins

What is the name of the simplest message to find an earthquakes epicenter

The SP method

In an earthquake, what does the Richter scale measure?

The scale measures the strength of an earthquake

How is the Mercalli intensity scale different from the Richter scale?

The Mercalli scale determines intensity as the Richter scale determines its strength

What is magnitude?

A measure of the strength of an earthquake

Where is the highest earthquake has it in the US?

The West Coast

What method do most scientist use now to measure the magnitude of an earthquake

The Richter scale

Can we predict when a earthquake will occur?

There's general predictions scientist can infer

Define gap hypothesis

A hypothesis based on the ideas that a major earthquake is more likely to occur along the part of an active fall or no earthquakes have occurred for a certain period of time

List five earthquake resistant buildings discussed in the text book

Mass damper, active tendon system, base, isolators, cross, braces, flexible pipes

What type of faults are created at each plate boundary?

Plate Motion: Major Fault Type:

Transform Strike-Slip Fault
Convergent Reverse Fault
Divergent Normal Fault