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Earthquakes Waves
Earth Science Terms About Earthquakes And Seismic Waves
Term | Definition |
---|---|
earthquake | a sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action. |
focus | the center of interest or activity. |
epicenter | the point on the earth's surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake. |
elastic rebound | The elastic rebound theory is an explanation for how energy is spread during earthquakes |
aftershock | a smaller earthquake following the main shock of a large earthquake. |
foreshock | a mild tremor preceding the violent shaking movement of an earthquake. |
intensity | the measurable amount of a property, such as force, brightness, or a magnetic field. |
magnitude | the great size or extent of something |
mercalli scale | a scale formerly used to describe the magnitude of an earthquake |
richter scale | a numerical scale for expressing the magnitude of an earthquake on the basis of seismograph |
seismograph | an instrument that measures and records details of earthquakes, such as force and duration. |
seismogram | a record produced by a seismograph. |
wave | disturbance that transmits energy |
transverse wave | wave particles vibrate perpendicular to wave direction |
longitudial wave | wave particles vibrate parallel to wave direction |
medium | material that a wave moves through |
crest | upward displacement of a wave |
trough | downward displacement of a wave |
amplitude | height of a wave |
wave length | distance between consecutive waves |
P waves | primary body wave (earthquake) ; fastest : least damaging : longitudial wave |
S waves | |
surface waves | |
travel-time graph | use delay to find distance to epicenter |
triangulation | located at the epicenter |