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LaGreca_Earthquakes
LaGreca 6th grade earthquake vocab
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| earthquake | a vibration in Earth's crust, caused by the release of energy in a fault |
| epicenter | the area on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake |
| focus | the point inside Earth where an earthquake begins |
| fault | a break in Earth's crust where rocks can slide past each other |
| P waves | are the primary (or fastest) waves of energy that are released when an earthquake occurs |
| S waves | are the secondary (or 2nd fastest) waves of energy that are released when an earthquake occurs |
| surface waves | this type of earthquake wave only moves along the Earth's surface (whereas P & S waves move through the inside of the Earth) |
| tsunami | an underwater earthquake in the ocean that causes a giant wave |
| Mercalli scale | this measures how much damage an earthquake causes (the intensity) |
| Richter scale | estimates how much energy an earthquake releases |