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Chapter 19
Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
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stress | forces per unit area that act on a material- compression, tension and shear. |
strain | deformation of materials in response to stress. |
elastic deformaiton | causes materials to bend and stretch; proportional to stress, so if the stress is reduced or returns to zero the stain or deformation is reduced or disappears. |
plastic deformaiton | permanent deformation caused by strain when stress exceeds a certain value. |
fault | fracture or system of fractures in Earth's crust that occurs when stress is applied too quickly or stress is too great; can form as a result of horizontal compression, horizontal shear, or horizontal tension. |
seismic wave | the vibrations of the ground during an earthquake. |
primary wave | seismic wave that squeezes and pushes rocks in the same direction that the wave travels, known as P-waves. |
focus | point of the initial fault rupture where an earthquake originates that usually lies at least several kilometers beneath Earth's surface. |
epicenter | point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an Earthquake. |
seismometer | instrument used to measure horizontal or vertical motion during an earthquake. |
seimogram | record produced by a seismometer that can provide individual tracking of each type of seismic wave. |
Richter scale | numerical rating system used to measure the amount of energy released during an earthquake. |
magnitude | measure of the energy released during an earthquake, which can be described using the Richter scale. |
amplitude magnitude scale | the size of the seismic waves; an increase of 1 in the scale represents an increase in amplitude of a factor of 10. |
modified Mercalli scale | measures earthquake intensity on a scale from I to XII; the higher the number, the greater the damage the earthquake has caused. |
soil liquefaction | process associated with seismic vibrations that occur in areas of sand that is nearly saturated; resulting in the ground behaving like a liquid. |
tsunami | large powerful ocean wave generated by the vertical motions of the seafloor during an earthquake; in shallow water, can from huge, fast moving breakers exceeding 30 m in height tha can damage coastal areas. |
seismic gap | place along an active fault that has not experienced an earthquake for a long time. |