click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
science earthquakes
Term | Definition |
---|---|
convergent | collide |
Divergent | To divide |
transform | to slide against each other |
subduction | the oceanic crust goes under the continental crust |
S wave | shakes buildings side to side |
P wave | causes buildings to contract and expand |
Surface wave | Shakes buildings violently |
focus | the point which a rock a rock under stress breaks and triggers an earthquake |
epicenter | the point right above the focus |
Mercalli Scale | senses how much damage the EQ is going to do |
Richter Scale | senses the magnitude |
Moment Magnitude Scale | senses the energy of the earthquake |
Magnitude | measurement of an earthquake |
tsunami | large ocean waves usually caused by earthquakes below the ocean floor |
Liquifaction | the process in which an earthquake's violent shaking turns loose soft soil into liquid mud |
aftershock | an earthquake that occurs after another earthquake |
seismology | study of earthquakes |
seismograph | an instrument that detects vibrations produced by a earthquake |
compression | stress that squeezes rock until it folds and breaks |
tension | stress that stretches rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle |
plateau | a land form that has high elevation and a more or less level surface |
shearing | stress that pushes masses of rock in opposite directions, in sideways movements |
normal fault | type of fault where the hanging wall slides downward; by tension in the crust |
reverse fault | a type of fault where the hanging wall slides upward: caused by compression in the Earth's crust |
earthquake | a sudden and violent shaking of the ground |
crust | |
fault | a fracture in the earth's crust |
mantle | layer of the earth beneath the crust |
lithosphere | a cool solid outer shell of the earth |
lithospheric plates |