What is an earthquake, and how do earthquakes generally occur?
answer
a sudden shaking of the ground that is caused by the rapid movement of one block of rock past another block of rock at a fault
question
How are faults, hypocenters, and epicenters related?
answer
The hypocenter is the exact point underground along a fault where the slippage of the two blocks of rock occurs. The epicenter is the point on Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter.
question
What is meant by elastic rebound?
answer
Elastic rebound refers to how the slippage along a fault (i.e., earthquake) allows the deformed rock to regain its original shape in a new location.
question
Who was the first to explain the mechanism by which most earthquakes are generated?
answer
H. F. Reid first explained the mechanism by which most earthquakes are generated by conducting a landmark study shortly after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
question
What two types of faults are common at divergent plate boundaries?
answer
normal and transform faults
question
______ faults are associated with ______ plate boundaries.
answer
Megathrust; convergent
question
During an earthquake, _____.
answer
the slippage continues along the fault until it reaches a point where rocks are not sufficiently strained to continue slippage
question
What characteristics do faults that experience fault creep exhibit?
answer
Fault creep tends to produce slow, gradual displacements of rock blocks with little seismic shaking.
question
Which type of fault tends to produce the most destructive earthquakes?
answer
megathrust fault
question
Which type of seismic wave can pass through the liquid outer core?
answer
P waves
question
Which are the last seismic waves to arrive at a seismic station?
answer
Surface waves
question
Which type(s) of seismic waves tend(s) to cause the greatest destruction to buildings
answer
surface waves
question
How does a seismograph work?
answer
A seismograph works by suspending a weight from bedrock, which remains motionless during an earthquake. A rotating drum that is affixed to the moving bedrock moves as the rock moves, recording the relative displacement between the stationary weight and the rotating drum.
A seismograph can measure P waves, S waves, and surface waves.
question
What are the differences between P waves, S waves, and surface waves?
answer
P waves are the fastest and have the lowest amplitudes; S waves are the second-fastest and have the second-lowest amplitudes; surface waves are the slowest and have the highest amplitudes.
question
How does triangulation determine the epicenter of an earthquake?
answer
On a map, a circle is drawn around each of three recording stations, with the radius being the distance from the station to the epicenter of the earthquake. The epicenter is located where the three circles intersect.
question
Which of the following would be the best to use to compare large earthquakes around Earth?
answer
the moment magnitude scale
question
Why is the moment magnitude scale favored over the Richter scale for large earthquakes?
answer
The moment magnitude scale measures the total energy released, whereas the Richter scale only measures the amplitude of the largest seismic wave.
question
What does the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale tell us about an earthquake?
answer
how intense an earthquake feels
question
What information is used to establish the lower numbers on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale?
answer
how the earthquake is felt by people in an area
question
How much more energy does a magnitude 8.0 earthquake release than does a magnitude 7.0 earthquake?
answer
An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 releases 32 times more energy than an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0.
question
Which type of earthquake destruction can cause houses to sink into the ground?
answer
liquefaction
question
In addition to the destruction created directly by seismic vibrations, how else can earthquakes cause destruction?
answer
by triggering a firestorm within populated areas.
by triggering a landslide,
by triggering a tsunami
question
What influences the amount of destruction that seismic vibrations cause to human-made structures?
answer
the nature of the building processes and construction processes used,
intensity of the vibrations,
the nature of the ground underneath human-made structures,
duration of the vibrations
question
What is a tsunami?
answer
a large ocean wave generated when a megathrust fault suddenly lifts a slab of seafloor
question
For which reason(s) might an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 result in more death and destruction than a quake with a magnitude of 8.0?
answer
The construction materials used in buildings in the area with the 7.0 magnitude earthquake are of poorer quality than those used in the area of the 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
The area with the 7.0 magnitude earthquake has a higher population than the area with the 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake lasts longer than an 8.0 magnitude earthquake
question
The highest magnitude earthquakes typically occur _______.
answer
near subduction zones
question
Which type(s) of plate boundary is/are associated with Earth's largest earthquakes?
Why could a repeat of the 1811-1812 New Madrid, Missouri, earthquakes be destructive to the Memphis, Tennessee, metropolitan area?
answer
The buildings in Memphis are on top of unconsolidated floodplain deposits and thus are more susceptible to damage than buildings on top of solid bedrock.
Memphis does not have adequate earthquake provisions in its building code.
question
If both earthquakes are of the same magnitude, why can an earthquake that occurs east of the Rockies produce damage over a larger area than the damage produced by an earthquake in California?
answer
The bedrock in the eastern and central United States is more rigid than that in the western United States, which allows seismic waves to travel greater distances with less attenuation.
question
Which is the zone of the greatest amount of seismic activity?
answer
the circum-Pacific belt
question
Aside from the answer to the previous question, in what other setting(s) do(es) strong earthquake activity occur?
answer
along transform faults in continents,
along strike-slip faults in continents
question
Why are short-range earthquake predictions often unsuccessful?
answer
Foreshocks do not occur before every earthquake.
Animal behavior is unreliable.
question
How do seismologists create long-range earthquake predictions?
answer
Identifying seismic gaps
question
How are the long-range forecasts of earthquakes useful?
answer
Long-range forecasts of earthquakes provide important guides for building codes so that structures such as buildings, dams, and roadways can be built to withstand expected levels of shaking.
question
Are accurate, short-range earthquake predictions currently possible using modern seismic instruments?
answer
No, there are currently no reliable methods available for making short-range earthquake predictions.
question
What information does a time-travel graph provide?
answer
the distance from the earthquake to the recording station
What is an earthquake, and how do earthquakes generally occur?
answer
a sudden shaking of the ground that is caused by the rapid movement of one block of rock past another block of rock at a fault
question
How are faults, hypocenters, and epicenters related?
answer
The hypocenter is the exact point underground along a fault where the slippage of the two blocks of rock occurs. The epicenter is the point on Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter.
question
What is meant by elastic rebound?
answer
Elastic rebound refers to how the slippage along a fault (i.e., earthquake) allows the deformed rock to regain its original shape in a new location.
question
Who was the first to explain the mechanism by which most earthquakes are generated?
answer
H. F. Reid first explained the mechanism by which most earthquakes are generated by conducting a landmark study shortly after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
question
What two types of faults are common at divergent plate boundaries?
answer
normal and transform faults
question
______ faults are associated with ______ plate boundaries.
answer
Megathrust; convergent
question
During an earthquake, _____.
answer
the slippage continues along the fault until it reaches a point where rocks are not sufficiently strained to continue slippage
question
What characteristics do faults that experience fault creep exhibit?
answer
Fault creep tends to produce slow, gradual displacements of rock blocks with little seismic shaking.
question
Which type of fault tends to produce the most destructive earthquakes?
answer
megathrust fault
question
Which type of seismic wave can pass through the liquid outer core?
answer
P waves
question
Which are the last seismic waves to arrive at a seismic station?
answer
Surface waves
question
Which type(s) of seismic waves tend(s) to cause the greatest destruction to buildings
answer
surface waves
question
How does a seismograph work?
answer
A seismograph works by suspending a weight from bedrock, which remains motionless during an earthquake. A rotating drum that is affixed to the moving bedrock moves as the rock moves, recording the relative displacement between the stationary weight and the rotating drum.
A seismograph can measure P waves, S waves, and surface waves.
question
What are the differences between P waves, S waves, and surface waves?
answer
P waves are the fastest and have the lowest amplitudes; S waves are the second-fastest and have the second-lowest amplitudes; surface waves are the slowest and have the highest amplitudes.
question
How does triangulation determine the epicenter of an earthquake?
answer
On a map, a circle is drawn around each of three recording stations, with the radius being the distance from the station to the epicenter of the earthquake. The epicenter is located where the three circles intersect.
question
Which of the following would be the best to use to compare large earthquakes around Earth?
answer
the moment magnitude scale
question
Why is the moment magnitude scale favored over the Richter scale for large earthquakes?
answer
The moment magnitude scale measures the total energy released, whereas the Richter scale only measures the amplitude of the largest seismic wave.
question
What does the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale tell us about an earthquake?
answer
how intense an earthquake feels
question
What information is used to establish the lower numbers on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale?
answer
how the earthquake is felt by people in an area
question
How much more energy does a magnitude 8.0 earthquake release than does a magnitude 7.0 earthquake?
answer
An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 releases 32 times more energy than an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0.
question
Which type of earthquake destruction can cause houses to sink into the ground?
answer
liquefaction
question
In addition to the destruction created directly by seismic vibrations, how else can earthquakes cause destruction?
answer
by triggering a firestorm within populated areas.
by triggering a landslide,
by triggering a tsunami
question
What influences the amount of destruction that seismic vibrations cause to human-made structures?
answer
the nature of the building processes and construction processes used,
intensity of the vibrations,
the nature of the ground underneath human-made structures,
duration of the vibrations
question
What is a tsunami?
answer
a large ocean wave generated when a megathrust fault suddenly lifts a slab of seafloor
question
For which reason(s) might an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 result in more death and destruction than a quake with a magnitude of 8.0?
answer
The construction materials used in buildings in the area with the 7.0 magnitude earthquake are of poorer quality than those used in the area of the 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
The area with the 7.0 magnitude earthquake has a higher population than the area with the 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake lasts longer than an 8.0 magnitude earthquake
question
The highest magnitude earthquakes typically occur _______.
answer
near subduction zones
question
Which type(s) of plate boundary is/are associated with Earth's largest earthquakes?
Why could a repeat of the 1811-1812 New Madrid, Missouri, earthquakes be destructive to the Memphis, Tennessee, metropolitan area?
answer
The buildings in Memphis are on top of unconsolidated floodplain deposits and thus are more susceptible to damage than buildings on top of solid bedrock.
Memphis does not have adequate earthquake provisions in its building code.
question
If both earthquakes are of the same magnitude, why can an earthquake that occurs east of the Rockies produce damage over a larger area than the damage produced by an earthquake in California?
answer
The bedrock in the eastern and central United States is more rigid than that in the western United States, which allows seismic waves to travel greater distances with less attenuation.
question
Which is the zone of the greatest amount of seismic activity?
answer
the circum-Pacific belt
question
Aside from the answer to the previous question, in what other setting(s) do(es) strong earthquake activity occur?
answer
along transform faults in continents,
along strike-slip faults in continents
question
Why are short-range earthquake predictions often unsuccessful?
answer
Foreshocks do not occur before every earthquake.
Animal behavior is unreliable.
question
How do seismologists create long-range earthquake predictions?
answer
Identifying seismic gaps
question
How are the long-range forecasts of earthquakes useful?
answer
Long-range forecasts of earthquakes provide important guides for building codes so that structures such as buildings, dams, and roadways can be built to withstand expected levels of shaking.
question
Are accurate, short-range earthquake predictions currently possible using modern seismic instruments?
answer
No, there are currently no reliable methods available for making short-range earthquake predictions.
question
What information does a time-travel graph provide?
answer
the distance from the earthquake to the recording station
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